Danganronpa - Mysteries of the Monokuma Mansion! Seeking the Truth?
by DantaFanta
Summary: Hayato Hare awakes in the Monokuma Mansion alongside 17 other students, who are all invited here as... guests? In a game of truth and lies where everyone's life could be in danger at any moment, can Hayato and his new friends escape their imprisonment? Or will they die trying... Rated M due to violence, language, and minor sexual content
1. Prologue - Part 1

**AN:** Hey, now this looks familiar! Welcome to my revamped Danganronpa fanfiction! Some of you may know I originally attempted this a while back, but honestly I had no idea what I was doing with that last one, so rather than going back to edit all the chapters of that to fit my new standard (And ideas) I just decided it would be better to start over. I'll talk more after this chapter, so for now enjoy! :)

* * *

 **Prologue - Part 1/2 - A New Beginning**

The Ultimate Academy of Verity. This is the school that everybody dreams of entering, for obvious reasons. It is said that if you are able to graduate from here, then you're pretty much set for life. Of course, it isn't easy to get into. If you wish to get a place, then you'll need to meet two requirements. The first is that you'll need to already be in High School. The second is that you'll need to be among the best in a certain area. The people who meet these conditions become 'Ultimate Students' and are invited to the Ultimate Academy of Verity.

I'm somewhat of an ordinary person, so receiving an invitation here came as quite a shock. Most things about my appearance are ordinary. Short brown hair with an ahoge on top (which is probably my most interesting feature). As for my clothes? Pretty basic. Black trousers, black shoes, white shirt, black hoodie. My hoodie is the only interesting part of my clothes, as it has my blog's logo (a red pentagram with red demon eyes) imprinted on the back. Oh? Did I not mention I have a blog?

My name is Hayato Hare. In my spare time I post on an online blog and occasionally a MyTube channel with various conspiracy theories. Many are of my own original creation, while others are revamped versions of already existing ones. It started out as a joke, to be honest, but I enjoy making them and put in a good amount of research before sharing my findings. I guess that's why I was invited to become the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist.

* * *

 **Hayato Hare - Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist**

* * *

Still though... I'm not that great. An honestly, I wish everyone else thought that too. Because the last thing I remember would be... preparing for my first day at the Ultimate Academy of Verity. I didn't even make it to the entrance before passing out, apparently.

When I awoke, I found myself in a dark room, possibly on some vehicle, as I could feel the motion rocking the room right as I regained consciousness. I couldn't make out many details. Heck, I don't even see a way in or out of here. A single light bulb is giving light to the centre of the room, but it just adds to the uneasiness of the situation. Looking around, I notice two other people in the room. Both girls, possibly of similar age to myself, one is still unconscious, while the other is facing the wall, muttering something to herself.

I nervously approach the latter of the two.

"Um... Hello?"

She stops talking, and slowly turns to face me. She has long blue hair tied into pigtails, and is looking at me with a somewhat serious expression. She appears to be wearing her old school uniform, being a tan-colored sailor outfit with a blue collar and lighter blue cuffs, a yellow bow held by a blue brooch to the top, and a blue pleated skirt.

"Oh, so you're finally awake." she responds, somewhat happy.

"Oh, uh... yeah." I respond, unsure as to what to ask first. "Do you know what's going on?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, I have no clue. I was kind of hoping you knew."

"Oh, makes sense." Figures as much. "By the way... what were you just mumbling about?"

"Oh that? I was just trying to communicate with the spirits." she replies so nonchalantly, as if that were a perfectly reasonable response.

I simply stare in confusion.

She notices the confusion in my face and explains further. "Oh, you see I have this connection to the spirits. There was an... incident, we'll say, at my previous school and I have this connection to the spirit world now, I suppose."

"R-right..." I'm not sure how to respond. "Wait... are you by any chance one of the new Ultimate Students?"

"Oh, yes. I guess I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Ayumi Shino. I'm kind of obsessed with the occult, so I received the title of Ultimate Occultist."

* * *

 **Ayumi Shino - Ultimate Occultist**

* * *

"Oh, so you're the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist, huh?" she asks following the introductions. "I guess we'll probably get along then, once we get to school, that is."

"Y-yeah, probably." I still feel slightly uneasy around her, especially after hearing of her Ultimate Talent. "So did the spirits say anything?"

Ayumi shakes her head. "No, I can't seem to contact anyone. Which is weird..."

As she begins to mutter to herself again, I notice that the other girl has already regained consciousness and is looking around just as confused as I was.

"Hey!" I call out to her. "You feeling okay?"

"Urgh... Yeah, just barely." she responds. "I overheard a bit of what you just said. So neither of you know what's going on then..."

Looking closer at her, I she has long pink hair, and is wearing what appears to be a maid dress and stockings.

"No, we're just as confused as I assume you are." I respond. "By the way... Those are some interesting clothes you're wearing."

She takes a look at her clothes and realises what I mean.

"Ah, right! I guess this would look strange out of context... I'm the Ultimate Cosplayer! Name's Sakuya Minakami. Nice to meet you!"

* * *

 **Sakuya Minakami - Ultimate Cosplayer**

* * *

"I'm Hayato Hare. Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist." I respond, as we shake hands.

"Nice to meet you, Hayachii." she responds as if we're already close friends.

"So what's with that costume then? You in character?" I ask, curious about the maid getup.

"Oh this? My sister was working on her latest designs and I model for her. Decided to make it into a cosplay while I was at it. I guess I forgot I was wearing it when I rushed out of the house..." she explains awkwardly chuckling.

Before I get the chance to ask about her sister, Sakuya comes to a quick realisation.

"Ah shit! My sister! Where is she?!" she exclaims in a panic. "We were walking to school together when... I don't know what happened, actually..."

"Together? Wait... Is she..." I begin to ask before being cut off.

"Yep! Ultimate Fashion Designer! We're actually step-sisters, so we're about the same age, which explains why we were heading there together." Sakuya explains with no hesitation.

As we're talking, Ayumi walks over and joins in with the conversation.

"No word from the spirits. It appears we're on our own here." she explains. She then notices Sakuya. "Oh, Ayumi Shino, Ultimate Occultist. Nice to meet you."

Sakuya grabs her hand and shakes it. "Nice to meet you, Ayuchii! Sakuya Minakami, Ultimate Cosplayer. Hey wait... You remind me of a character from this horror game I've played..."

"A coincidence, I'm sure." Ayumi firmly responds.

"Eh... Maybe..." Sakuya remains sceptical for some reason.

As the two of them began talking about Ayumi's resemblance to a game characters, I noticed that we had stopped moving. Suddenly, without warning, the walls around us collapsed and we found ourselves in... some kind of mansion. The three of us were naturally shocked by this. We were kidnapped and brought to... a mansion? Something doesn't add up.

As if on some kind of cue, a strange teddy bear-like creature popped up in front of us. On the right, he was white in colour. For the facial features on this side, it was that of a normal teddy bear. On his left side, however, he was black in colour. The face was also different, having a wide grin and a red slash for an eye. The only consistent parts of his body were the muzzle and tummy areas, which were white on both sides. It was a somewhat creepy sight.

Ayumi smiled upon seeing this. "Oh? What an ominous looking teddy bear."

"That's MR ominous looking teddy bear to you, young lady!" the bear responded, somewhat offended. "Either way... Welcome to your new home all of y... Wait. Why are there only three of you?"

The bear was more surprised than we were, by the looks of it.

"Uh... What's going on?" I asked, hoping to find some answers.

The bear looked over at me. "Oh, right. I... am Monokuma! The owner of this Mansion. I call it... The Monokuma Mansion!"

* * *

 **Monokuma - Mansion Owner**

* * *

Monokuma stepped forward. "To be completely honest, there should be more of you here... I'm not entirely sure what happened."

We all stared in confusion. "Could you explain what you can to us?" I asked.

"Oh, sure." Monokuma quickly responded. "You see, you're all here as my invited guests! I'll explain more later once I find out where the others are. For now, how about you-"

 _ **CRASH!**_

A loud crashing noise interrupts Monokuma's explanation. This startles all of us, but Monokuma appears the most startled by it.

"W-what?!" the bear screams in horror. "Please don't tell me they just... Did it really just... MY MANSION!"

Monokuma quickly runs down the hall and towards a back room. I take a look at both Sakuya and Ayumi, and we all nod in agreement before deciding to follow.

* * *

We find ourselves in a rather plain looking storage room. It appears to be filled with numerous different things that honestly don't look like they fit. In one area we have gardening equipment. In others are sport gear. There are so many supplies here, one could live their entire life here without needing to leave - with the right preparations, of course. Taking a look around, we notice Monokuma staring at a metal container in a panic. A giant hole covers the ceiling right above it. Sunlight beams from above through the hole, implying that there weren't many floors of the mansion above us.

"They frigging did!" Monokuma cried. "They dropped it in the wrong place! Nooooo! I gave them very specific instructions, and they failed completely!"

"Uh... Mr Monokuma?" Ayumi spoke first. "What's going on?"

Monokuma sighed. "Those are the containers you were being transported here in. But the person in charge of transport screwed up! I've gotta go fix the damages but the rest should be around somewhere... Six containers total. So yours, this one, plus four more. All need to be opened from a button on the outside. I was gonna do it myself, buuuuut... Now I gotta go see what else is damaged. You three take care of it. I'll give you all a nice reward if you do! Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

Reluctantly, we are forced to agree. Monokuma wishes us luck and vanishes where he stands.

Sakuya takes a look at the container. "Could have told us where the buttons were though..."

The three of us began investigating the container, hoping to find some sign of a button. As if by chance, Ayumi ultimately found the button camouflaged in on one of the side walls towards the ground.

"Ufufufu... The spirits helped me find that one." she bragged, as we watched the adjacent wall slowly open outwards.

Looking towards the opening, we noticed three figures emerge from within. Sakuya gleamed with joy upon noticing one of the figures.

"Karen!" she cheered, running towards one girl.

"Onee-chan?!" the girl happily cried upon being embraced by Sakuya.

Another girl emerged from the container from behind. Looking at her, I noticed that she had short brown hair, with brink pink hair clips in at both sides. If the pink hair clips didn't stand out enough, then the bright pink t-shirt she was wearing certainly did. She was also wearing white trousers, and appeared to be holding a pink wand, for some reason.

"Whew! Finally free." the girl exclaimed. "You guys free us?"

"Oh, that would be Ayumi that managed to free you." I responded.

"It was a team effort." Ayumi reassured.

The girl took a good look at me, without even facing Ayumi. It was as if she was... studying me?

"Yep. Just as I thought." she commented. "A fine figure you got there indeed."

"What are you...?" I simply stood there, confused.

She walked behind me, continuing to inspect me. "And let me check..." Without hesitation, she grabbed my behind. "Yep! A nice ass, too."

"Ex-excuse me!" I call out, stepping away and guarding my butt. "What are you doing?"

"Eh? Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself yet." the girl remembered. Pointing her wand at me, she speaks again. "Kaede Ichinose! I have a wonderful collection of anime merchandise, but the pride of my collection would be my figurines! Which is why I'm known as the Ultimate Figurine Collector!"

* * *

 **Kaede Ichinose - Ultimate Figurine Collector**

* * *

"You can call me 'Master', though." Kaede told me. "Because I am _officially_ adding you to my collection! Yay!"

I didn't respond. I just stared blankly at her.

"What I'm saying is that I will be adding you to my collection as my boy toy! You should feel honoured!" Kaede explains, pointing her wand at me as we speak.

"No thank you." I respond quickly and firmly.

Kaede responds with a sly smile. "Deny it all you want. I'll win your affections one day, and when I do you'll be in my collection for sure!"

"Keep dreaming." I reconfirmed my opinions.

"Um..." Another girl who is still inside the container speaks nervously. "Is it... safe to come... out?"

Turning away from Kaede, I look at the girl, who I notice has black hair in a ponytail. She wore... a red t-shirt and blue shorts. Not only do those clothes not appear to work together, but it's also surprisingly little. As I approached her, I noticed bags under her eyes, though they appeared hidden due to her glasses.

"Yeah, everything's good. I think." I reassure her. "Everything okay?"

"She's been like that the whole time." Kaede shared. "I think she's probably sleep deprived."

"I... I'm kind of... lost..." the girl speaks with pauses, as if struggling to remain awake. "without my... phone... or laptop..."

"Oh? Why is that?" I ask, curious as to the reasoning.

"I am... Nagisa... Sakura..." she explains. "The Ultimate... Blogger... because I run... a successful... blog..."

* * *

 **Nagisa Sakura - Ultimate Blogger**

* * *

"A blog, huh?" I ask. "That's cool! I actually have a blog of my own."

"Oh... that's nice... we should... share posts... zzz..." Nagisa begins to speak, but falls asleep where she stands before finishing.

"What... What just happened?" I question the sight I just witnessed.

"Oh? You have a blog, I hear?" Ayumi steps towards me, having overheard the conversation. "What's the conspiracy theorist's blog called then, huh?"

I feel somewhat embarrassed to share in person, but I decide to tell her regardless. "Oh, it's called 'Conspiracies from Beyond'. My logo is actually on my hoodie at the back."

Without hesitation, Ayumi's eyes gleam up. "Wait, seriously?! Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm a huge fan of that blog! And the MyTube channel! I've followed you since the beginning when you were called the 'Demon Rabbit'!"

I drop to the ground in embarrassment. "Don't remind me of that name..." That was my name from the _very_ early days, back when I started a few years back. It appears I am unfortunate enough to have met one of few people who still remember that name.

Ayumi giggles at my misfortune. "Whatever you say, 'Demora'."

I roll around in agony. Oh, that cringy nickname I gave myself in those early posts. I suppose it was only natural it would come back to haunt me...

I stop rolling when I collide with someone's feet. I look up and it's Sakuya and that other girl. Karen, she said, right? She had long brown hair and wore a white shirt with a red ribbon around the collar, with a blue skirt, black tights, and black slip on shoes.

"Oh, Hayachii! What are you doing down there?" Sakuya asks, unfazed. The other girl, on the other hand, backs away slightly, nervous.

"Eh, you know. Just rolling around in embarrassment. The usual." I jokingly reply.

Sakuya reaches a hand towards me and helps me up. "Hayachii, I want you to meet my sister, Karen."

The girl timidly nods at me. "H-hello."

"She's a bit shy, but a great person once you get to know her." Sakuya explains. "Go on. Introduce yourself." Sakuya then pushes her in front of me.

"I-I'm Karen Minakami." Karen introduces herself. "I'm the Ultimate Fashion Designer..."

* * *

 **Karen Minakami - Ultimate Fashion Designer**

* * *

"Karen here helps me create my cosplay." Sakuya explains, bragging slightly. "We're a great team!"

Karen quickly hides behind her sister. "O-onee-chan..."

"Upupupu..."

Before we can speak any further, Monokuma suddenly reappears.

"So you've been acquainted now then. That's good!" he cheerfully comments. "Tell you guys what. I'll recap what I said to you guys and send them off to do something, while you three finish your mission."

"Mission?" Kaede questions, butting in. "Ooh! I'm interested! I'm in!"

"Upupupu... No way!" Monokuma firmly responds. "This mission was given to Hayato-chan, Sakuya-chan and Ayumi-chan! You guys cannot accompany them."

"Is that what you came here to tell us?" I question.

Monokuma shakes his head. "No. I just wanted to repair the damages in this room. Also, I've located the rest of the containers. Most are inside, but one is outside. Tell ya what. Get the one outside last, and I'll reward you extra! Upupupu... Go on! Get on with it!"

* * *

Sakuya, Ayumi and I begin our hunt for the remaining containers, leaving the other three with Monokuma who quickly briefs them on the situation.

Our exploration brings us back into the main hall where we arrived, and up the stairs. Looking around, it looks as if there are five floors above us. Aside from the ground floor and the first floor, all rooms and halls are blocked off from what we could see, although we can still access those floors. Directly at the top of the staircase we find another container, blocking a door. As we approach the container, we can hear some strange noises coming from inside.

Sakuya listens closely, attempting the identify the sounds. "What the hell is that? Moaning?"

Ayumi smiled upon hearing this. "Hmm? Could be some spirits trying to call to us."

"D-don't say that." Sakuya steps back, slightly scared at the thought.

Ayumi chuckles, placing her ear against the container. "I'm only joking. It's probably just... Uh... Well... Oh my..."

Without finishing her sentence, Ayumi's face turns red and she backs away, slightly embarrassed. I'm not sure why. I wonder what could... oh. Never mind.

Hoping it's not as we think it is, I loudly knock on the container. "Hey! We're gonna get you guys out of there, okay?"

As I'm doing this, Sakuya is searching for the button, while Ayumi is standing a reasonable distance away, trying to calm down. In only a matter of seconds, Sakuya is able to find the button and the front of the container swings open.

Stepping outside the container first is a guy with dirty blond hair. He wore a turquoise track suit and a t-shirt, blue sweatbands on his head and wrists, and a light blue jacket with the word hope written on the sleeve. As he stepped out, he appeared to be combing his hair with his hands. Looking closely, he appeared to be sweating slightly.

Following him was a girl, who didn't look Japanese, with long blond hair in a pony tail. She was wearing a red cheerleader dress. Looking closer, her hair was slightly messy, and as she stepped out she looked almost tired. Was... Was Ayumi's and my assumption correct?

As I shake this thought from my mind, I step forward and speak to the two. "Um... Hey. You guys okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks for getting us out of there." the guy replied. "I'd shake your hand, but I've gotten a bit sweaty from my warm-up exercises."

"Warm-up exercises?" I ask, hoping for a normal answer.

The guy smiled. "Yosuke Flar. Ultimate Personal Trainer. I like to stay in good shape, so I exercise every chance I get. Oh, but I'm not like an exercise freak or anything, so I won't just start doing push-ups mid conversation."

* * *

 **Yosuke Flar - Ultimate Personal Trainer**

* * *

"Though I can't say I won't start that once we finish speaking. Ha!" Yosuke begins laughing at his comment, before walking off to speak with the others. Did he just mutter something under his breath? Maybe I'm just imagining things...

I walk over to the girl, of whom Sakuya was just talking to.

"Ah, hello! Thank you for saving us, cutie." the girl greets me with a wink. She speaks in what sounds like an American accent.

"Oh, uh... No problem." I reply, not sure on what to say next.

"Actually, I did have something I wanted to ask!" Sakuya speaks up, wishing to ask the girl something. "We heard what appeared to be moaning coming from inside the container earlier. What was that about?"

The girl freezes up. "I-I'm not sure what you're talking about." She nervously replies, not maintaining eye contact. "M-maybe you were imagining things?"

"Hm... Maybe it was coming from somewhere else then..." Sakuya seems to accept this answer, seemingly unaware of the obvious lie.

"N-never mind that! I haven't introduced myself yet!" the girl quickly changes the subject. "Serena Anne, the Ultimate Cheerleader! I'm actually from California, from the United States, but I've been learning Japanese my whole life, so I'm pretty much fluent in the language! Go Japan!"

* * *

 **Serena Anne - Ultimate Cheerleader**

* * *

"By the way..." I speak up. "Was there anyone else in that container with you guys?"

"Oh, uh... Yeah." Serena replies, somewhat nervous. "H-he hasn't woken up yet though..."

Suspicious of Serena's answer, I enter the container and look around. I quickly notice a black haired guy lying unconscious in the corner. He was wearing black trousers with a blue vest shirt, and had a black jacket tied around his waist. I run over to him and gently shake him, noticing that he's regaining consciousness.

"Urgh..." He grunts, slowly waking up. "Why does my head feel bruised..."

"Hey, you okay?" I ask, helping him get to his feet. "The others said you hadn't woke up yet."

"Thanks for that..." he replies, rubbing his head. "Nah, I'm good... But I'm pretty sure I woke up already... I saw the container, and those other two standing there and... Eh, I don't know what I saw. Maybe I didn't wake up after all..."

"Then I guess whatever drug they used on us kept you out for longer..." I share my suspicions.

"Yeah, maybe. I'm all good now though. Thanks for the help." the guy responds, standing on his own. "Oh. I'm Naoki Inoue. They call me the Ultimate Basketball Player."

* * *

 **Naoki Inoue - Ultimate Basketball Player**

* * *

"Unlike most of the guys I play with, I'm actually pretty good at keeping a cool head, so you won't see me starting any fights." Naoki shares. "Just saying, because a lot of people assume otherwise."

"Upupupupu..." a familiar voice echoes. "Another three rescued! That's half of out guests here. Not bad."

"Mono...kuma?" I ask, wondering where the voice is coming from.

As if on cue, Monokuma pops up randomly in the container. "Nice one! Let's head outside the container. I'll brief these three on the situation, while you continue your mission!" Monokuma proceeds to push the two of us outside, before noticing something. "Hey, whose panties are these? And... why are they wet...? Eww... Seriously? In here? Gross..."

Serena quickly pushes past us and runs in. "Sorry about that!" She grabs the underwear and quickly puts then back on.

As Monokuma begins speaking to Yosuke, Serena and Naoki, Sakuya, Ayumi and I begin heading downstairs.

"They totally fucked." Ayumi whispers to us. "Probably knocked that Naoki kid out so they could continue."

"Obviously." I respond.

"Wait, so that moaning was... Oh, now I get it..." Sakuya responds, finally understanding.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **AN:** So that's part 1 of the prologue. Part 2 will be coming soon. I'm not gonna have a schedule for this, but I'm aiming for one chapter a week. Honestly though, it'll be done when it's done. I've added a few new characters and replaced some others. Some aspects for some characters have been altered too, such as Hayato now having an Ultimate Talent. I've also decided to keep this separate from the Hope's Peak arc as I feel like there's more potential this way. Like. Monokuma will be the only pre-existing character to appear or even be referenced. I should also say everyone's fate is already determined at this point. I might make a few changes depending on if I think it would work, but yeah. Also, any feedback will be appreciated. :)


	2. Prologue - Part 2

**Prologue - Part 2/2 - The Game Begins**

Sakuya, Ayumi and I continue our mission to find the remaining students by exploring the first floor. From the way up, on the left we what appeared to be a collection of bedrooms. We didn't spend much time looking around, but nothing seemed out of place there. On the opposite side of the floor, we found a few rooms.

A small gym room was located at the end of the hallway. A variety of equipment was scattered throughout the room, though as for what each of them do, I would have no idea.

Along the hallway was a laundry room, filled with pretty much anything you'd need to do your laundry. Washing machines, dryers, plenty of clothes lines, and so on.

The most noteworthy room appeared to be a large bath. Before entering the bath, there was a large room which is to be used as a changing room. This room contained shelves for clothes, small wooden benches, mirrors, and other various things you'd expect to see. This room had no doors, although signs were available to hang up to show that the bath was in use. In the bath area itself, was a large communal bath. By the looks of it, there was probably enough room for about ten people at one time.

Inside the bath, we found another container having crashed through the roof, however the repairs seem to already be in place.

We investigate the container, which is half submerged in water. I can't help but think this could potentially end badly. While I'm standing lost in thought, Sakuya has already stripped down to her underwear and steps into the bath.

"Wha- Sakuya? What are you..." I question her actions.

"Hm?" Sakuya asks, unaware of any issue. "We've got to find the button on her, and this is more preferable to getting out clothes soaked. And besides... I don't really want to strip naked..."

"But no issues to stripping down to your underwear?" Ayumi comments. "How bold..."

"When you think about it, a swimsuit and underwear are the same thing, so just imagine I'm wearing a bikini if it's that much of an issue." Sakuya casually replies, beginning to search for the button.

Ayumi just shrugs off the response. "Hey, you do you. And by that I mean you can go find the button."

As Ayumi says that, it appears Sakuya has discovered the button for the container, which prompts the top of the container to flip open. This would be the best case scenario, as it means the bath water wouldn't flood straight into the container.

"Whoa! Light!" a female voice calls out from inside the container. "Yu-Yu! Give me a boost!"

Almost immediately after we hear this, a girl jumps out of the container. The girl has short brown hair with pink highlights on each side. She wore a brown shorts, with a green shirt and black jacket. As we watch her jump out, we fail to warn her about the room and watch as she... falls directly into the bath water.

"Ah crap..." she comments, pulling herself out of the water. "We're in a pool or something?"

"A bath." I correct her. "Sorry, we should have warned you..."

"No, that's my fault. I was the one who jumped straight out of that thing without looking around first." the girl reassures me. "Hey! Mind your step, okay guys?"

"Yeah, we heard!" a male voice responds from within the container. "Can you give me a boost?"

"Treat me with some respect. I'm a Lord of the Evermore family, need I remind you?" another male voice responds.

"Fine... I'll boost you."

A guy with with short, well combed blond hair pulled himself out of the container. He was wearing a black suit, with the jacket buttoned up. He looks directly at me and speaks. "Catch." ...Before jumping directly at me, knocking me over and landing directly on top.

"Urgh... What the hell?" I ask, with him still resting on top of me.

The guy steps off of me. "I warned you." He then reaches a hand out to me. "But still... Sorry about that."

I take his hand and he helps me up.

"I suppose I should introduce myself." the guy responds. "I'm Lucas Evermore. They call me the Ultimate Lord, but in reality I'm actually just the son of a Lord. I'm from a far away European country that I won't name because a simple person like you would have never heard of it."

* * *

 **Lucas Evermore - Ultimate Lord**

* * *

"Come on, we got you..." the girl from earlier speaks out. Looking over the girl, who is now also stripped down to her underwear, is sitting on Sakuya's shoulders, and is pulling another guy out of the container. He was well dressed with tidy brown hair, wearing a black suit, a white shirt, red tie, and had white gloves on.

"Thanks Ki-Ki." he responds. "But why are you naked?"

"Not naked. I've still got my bra and panties on." the girl reassures him.

"Have you no..." he speaks, before jumping back onto land. Upon safely landing, he resumes speaking. "Shame?"

"But my clothes are wet. What else should I do? Catch a cold?" she asks, almost rhetorically.

"That's not what I... forget it." the guy gives in. He then turns to face me. "Oh, thank you for freeing us. My name is Yu Hayase, and I'm the Ultimate Musical Conductor."

* * *

 **Yu Hayase - Ultimate Musical Conductor**

* * *

"And my the girl who embarrassed herself is my childhood friend, Yuki." Yu continues.

"Heya! I'm Yuki Saito." the girl speaks stepping out of the water. "I'm the Ultimate Hacker!"

* * *

 **Yuki Saito - Ultimate Hacker**

* * *

"Don't let my looks fool you. I'm pretty good with computers." Yuki explains. "Also, I can hack into your webcam and share embarrassing footage with the world if you get on my wrong side."

"Noted." I respond, unsure if that was a threat or not.

"By the way..." Yu speaks up. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you Mr Hare?"

"Kind of." I respond, looking around. "But the guy who'll explain it should be showing up any moment now."

"Upupupu..."

Yep. There we go. Monokuma shows up on cue, rising out of the water for some reason.

"Exactly!" the bear responds. "You know the drill. I'll explain to these guys, you go free the others."

* * *

From the entrance hall, it splits off into two rooms - a dining area and a communal area.

In the dining area, we find both a large kitchen, stocked with plenty of supplies, ranging from food, to condiments, liquids and cooking utensils. Pretty much everything you'd need. That's connected to the dining room, which is just a room filled with a large table and twenty chairs.

The room of note here would be the communal area, which is a large living room. The room is complete with sofas, tea tables, a couple of bookshelves, stacks of board games, lamps and a fireplace. Oh, and a giant container resting in the centre of the room.

Knowing the drill by this point, I instantly head towards the container and begin searching for the button. Ayumi and Sakuya do the same. Relatively quickly, I find the switch and one of the sides flips open.

The first to leave the container was a boy with well combed black hair, wearing a white shirt, red tie, and black trousers.

"Thanks for getting us out of there." he responds. "I'll keep my introduction short. You can call me Kyo. My last name is not important right now. My Ultimate talent is being observant."

* * *

 **Kyo - Ultimate Observer**

* * *

"I'm not much of a people person, so if I act coldly, don't take it personally." Kyo adds, before walking off and silently looking around the room. What a strange person...

Looking around, the other people have already begun to introduce themselves to Sakuya and Ayumi. I walk over to join with the conversation.

"My... what a cutie." spoke a boy with a somewhat feminine appearance. He had brown hair at a short length, and wore a black shirt, black trousers, a white apron and a black beret.

Sakuya smiles. "You think I'm cute?"

"He's obviously talking about me." Ayumi is quick to speak up, glaring at Sakuya.

The guy shakes his head. "No, you're both hideous. I'm talking about this stud over here." He says this as he point to me. Both Sakuya and Ayumi are both shocked and insulted. "Mamoru Kurosawa. Ultimate Painter. If you ever want to pose nude for me, I'm free anytime."

* * *

 **Mamoru Kurosawa - Ultimate Painter**

* * *

"Um... Thanks?" I respond, unsure as to what to say. "But I'm not into guys like that, sorry."

Mamoru chuckles. "Oh, that's fine. I expected you to be. But my offer still stands." He winks at me as he says this.

Now uncomfortable, I turn to face the other guy standing nearby. He has long brown hair, with slight stubble around his face, and wears a purple t-shirt, grey lounge pants, and is barefoot.

"Hey. Don't let it get to you too bad." he speaks to me. "He was flirting with that Kyo dude all the way here. He's probably just into those pretty boy types. Either way, I'm Akio Minai, the Ultimate Pacifist. All life is precious, so we need to keep our cool at all times."

* * *

 **Akio Minai - Ultimate Pacifst**

* * *

I stare blankly, unsure as to what to say. "Uh... Okay? Are you even the right age for High School?"

Akio chuckles slightly. "Ha. Yeah, I was a third year before getting my invitation to the Ultimate Academy. But I'm just so chill all the time."

"What are you smoking?" I ask, confident in the response.

"Not cigarettes, that's for sure." he casually replies. "Helps me stay mellow."

"Upupupu..." Monokuma suddenly appears once again. "Drugs are bad kids. I'll make sure you don't get any of that while you're here."

"Makes sense." Akio calmly replies. "I should quit soon anyway."

"Well that was easy..." Monokuma replies and faces me. "Well, final one is outside. I'll brief these guys and you can finish your mission. Door is unlocked, but, uh... Good luck with those two..."

Monokuma is pointing at Sakuya and Ayumi, who are still frozen in shock at what Mamoru said about them.

* * *

"The nerve of that guy..." Sakuya sulks. "We're definitely hot."

"I know, right?" Ayumi agrees, also sulking. "Out of everyone here, we're like, the two sexiest girls here."

Ignoring their sulking, the three of us head outside the mansion to find... Water?

Looking around, it appears that this Mansion is located on the middle of... an island?! Ocean as far as the eye can see. There's still a good amount of land on this island, but there are no other forms of buildings here aside from the mansion, with the exception of what appears to be a tool shed and a gazebo. There's a dock, a small beach area, and a very large garden, but that's it. Oh, and... the container, set right in fronts of us at a plaza of some kind, near a fountain.

While the girls are still sulking, I approach the container and hear what sounds like... arguing? Quickly, I am able to find the button and the container swings open. Inside are three people, all arguing. Did Monokuma know about this? Is that why this one was last? I take a look at the people inside.

The first is a girl with long blonde hair in pigtails. Her outfit appeared to be a standard sailor's uniform that is worn by most high school girls, with a blue skirt and pink thigh socks. She did also appear to be wearing a yellow fleece jacket.

There was another girl there too. She had long blond hair (possibly bleached) and wore a pink dress, with knee high pink and black striped socks, and a black jacket. She also had a pink hair clip in her hair.

The last was a boy with short blue hair and glasses He wore dark blue trousers, and a buttoned up white jacket.

The three of them were in a deep argument.

"At least I'm not as stuck up as you!" the first girl screamed at the guy.

"Oh that's rich, coming from you." the guys responded. "Sleep with any new guys lately? Of course you have, you slut."

"Slut?! Just because I can get a harem of guys who want to sleep with me it does not make me a slut!" the girl screams back.

"It kind of does." the other girl retorts. "But you know what? Who cares. You're a bitch anyway." She freezes and a smile appears on her face. "Ultimate Bitch!"

"She's the Ultimate Slut." the guy responds. "Keep that bitch title for yourself."

The two girls look at each other, then look at the guy. "Ultimate Dick." the speak in unison.

I quickly step in. "Whoa! Hey! Calm down. What's going on here?"

When they hear me, they all silence. It's as if they were unaware that we even freed them from the container.

"We'll say a disagreement of opinions." the guy responds.

"Oh, you disagreed?" the first girl spoke. "I didn't hear over your large ego."

The bickering between the two continue, while the girl in the pink dress stares at me. "H... Hayato-kun?"

"Eh?" I ask, confused. Does this girl know me?

"It _is_ you!" she screams in joy, embracing me with no hesitation. "We went to the same high school! We never spoke, but we were in the same year. Kiyomi Sora!"

"Oh, yeah. I didn't notice because of your hair." I respond, recognising her now. Kiyomi was in the popular student crowd at school. We never spoke. Ever. But we did share classes sometimes. Still, I'm surprised she knows who I am...

"You probably already know this, but I'm the Ultimate Voice Actress!" Kiyomi introduces herself.

* * *

 **Kiyomi Sora - Ultimate Voice Actress**

* * *

"And I already know what your talent is!" Kiyomi interrupts my introduction. "Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist! I, uh... follow your blog..."

That explains how she knows about me then.

I quickly change the subject. "So what were you guys arguing about in there?" I ask, hoping to get to the bottom of it.

Kiyomi sighs. "I'd rather not say. It was pretty much everything... I don't think I can get along with those guys... Who are..."

Kiyomi begins to glare daggers at Sakuya and Ayumi, who stood behind me, and approached them. I decide to speak to the other two, still arguing.

"Hey! Quit arguing already." I interrupt. "I'm Hayato Hare, the Ultimate Conspiracy Theorist. Now you introduce yourselves."

The guy sighs. "You don't suit my tastes, but whatever. I'll entertain you. Kou Amagi, the Ultimate Gourmet. Try not to bother me too much."

* * *

 **Kou Amagi - Ultimate Gourmet**

* * *

Tastes? Judging by his attitude, I'm beginning to see what could have started the arguing...

The girl looks at me and smiles. "Sure. I'm Michiru Hino and I'm the Ultimate School Idol. Basically the most popular student at school wherever I go."

* * *

 **Michiru Hino - Ultimate School Idol**

* * *

"By the way... Has anyone ever told you you look very attractive?" Michiru asks me, licking her lips.

Yes. Several times today, as a matter of fact. Why is every other person here flirting with me...

Before things get any more awkward, Monokuma pops up.

"Upupupu... Good job! Now I'm going to need everyone inside the main hall for a special announcement! Go go go! Oh, Hayato. You, Sakuya and Ayumi stay here for a moment though.

Monokuma gathers Sakuya, Ayumi and I together while the others (reluctantly) head inside.

"I wanted to give you your rewards for a job well done!" Monokuma exclaims. "Repairs are practically done now, so we can move onto more important things. Here's your rewards."

Monokuma hands each of us a different item. He hands me what appears to be a keycard of some kind, with the red Monokuma eye imprinted on the front. A key card for what, though, I have no clue.

Sakuya receives a single key, with the same red eye imprinted on the key's bow.

Ayumi is handed what appears to be an electronic key fob or something like that, anyway. The same red eye is imprinted on the back.

"What do they do? Who knows! Maybe they'll come in handy later. Or maybe not. Think of them as souvenirs!" Monokuma explains. "Anyway... we should head inside. Like I said, I have a special announcement to make and everyone needs to be present. Let's go!"

* * *

As we re enter the main hall, I notice that everyone else is already gathered there. Everyone is chatting among themselves, most likely introducing themselves to each other. Quickly enough, Monokuma jumps onto the stairs in front of us all and speaks up.

"Upupupu... Welcome everyone! This is the Monokuma Mansion!" Monokuma announces. "Some of you you know who I am already, but for those who don't... I am Monokuma! The owner of the Monokuma Mansion, which shall be your new home!"

Our new home? Part of me already knew this wasn't going to end well...

Monokuma continues his introduction. "You are all here as my invited guests! Forget about boring school life - Ultimates deserve better! Upupu... You will be staying here for the foreseeable future as my invited guests and... wait, did I already say that? Uh... crap. Where's my notes..."

We all stand there, watching in confusion as Monokuma takes out a bunch of small cards and begins frantically flipping through them.

"Oh, right!" the bear exclaims, putting the cards away. "You guys don't have a choice in the matter here. You're here until I say you can go. So when can you leave? Upupupu... When you commit murder!"

Silence fills the air, followed immediately by the whispers of everyone, clearly surprise by what Monokuma just said.

"I'm sorry..." Yosuke steps forward. "But did you just say you want us to kill each other?"

Monokuma shakes his head. "No no no. I don't want you guys to kill each other. Well, maybe a little. But that's just one option. You don't have to do it. If you want to leave, there is an alternative option which can minimise casualties - probably."

Monokuma jumps over us, landing at a table near the entrance to the living room. On the table is a rather odd looking stone bust of... Monokuma. He flips open the head of the bust to reveal... a switch?

"This switch here will initiate a meeting with me! When pushed, we will all gather in the main hall here, and the person who pressed the button will present their discoveries to me! Discoveries of what, you may ask? Why, the secrets of the Mansion, of course! Attendance is optional."

"So we present our findings on what we believe to be a secret of the Mansion?" Yosuke asks, confirming the situation. "And what happens then?"

"Depends." Monokuma reveals. "If you're correct, we will initiate the ' _Final Trial_ '. More details on that later. If you're incorrect... you will be punished. I hate people wasting my time with random nonsense, so don't even think about 'trial and error'-ing this. I suppose we should go over the rules now..."

Making his way back to the stairs, Monokuma hands us all a small tablet and a door key.

"The keys are for your rooms here. Can't open them from the outside without a key, and I will charge you for replacements. What will I charge? Eh, haven't decided yet. As for the tablets... switch them on."

I switch on my tablet and am greeted with a personalised message greeting me by name.

"Now go to the 'Mansion Rules' page." Monokuma declares. "These are the rules you will all live by while you are here!"

I take a look at these rules Monokuma mentioned.

 **Rule 1 - The Monokuma Mansion is your home. You may leave the Mansion, but cannot leave the property.**

 **Rule 2 - "Nighttime" is from 10pm to 7am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.**

 **Rule 2.5 - The exterior of the Mansion is off-limits at night, however with prior permission Monokuma may be willing to make an exception.**

 **Rule 3 - Sleeping anywhere other than a bedroom is disrespectful to the owner and will be punished accordingly.**

 **Rule 4 - With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the Monokuma Mansion at your discretion.**

 **Rule 5 - Violence against Mansion Owner Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of our surveillance cameras.**

 **Rule 6 - Anyone who kills a fellow guest will become "blackened" and will be allowed to leave, unless they are discovered.**

 **Rule 7 - Any guest who wishes to expose a Mansion secret will be allowed to call a meeting in the main hall. Attendance is optional.**

 **Rule 8 - Correctly exposing a secret will initiate the ' _Final Trial'_ which gives all remaining guests the opportunity to leave.**

 **Rule 9 - Incorrectly exposing a secret will be considered a waste of time and will be punished accordingly.**

 **Rule 10 - A secret point system will be in place. Your number of points will determine the severity of your punishments, if applicable.**

 **Rule 11 - Additional Monokuma Mansion rules may be added if necessary.**

"Surveillance cameras, eh?" Yuki comments. "So you admit you'll be spying on us?"

"Upupupu... Duh. Gotta enforce those rules somehow." Monokuma laughs this off.

"So this whole 'blackened' thing..." Yu comments. "You're serious about us killing each other."

"Well I'm not saying you _should_..." Monokuma explains. "But... I'm also not saying you _shouldn't_. But if you do, I'll let you leave the property."

"But how?" I ask, stepping forward. "We're on an island, aren't we?"

Monokuma grins. "Well, yeah. But I'll give you a means to leave. Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna break my own rules. If I say you can leave, you'll be allowed to leave. Simple. Any more questions?"

Kyo steps forward. "Yes. Why specifically us? I'm going to assume we were all students to be at the Ultimate Academy of Verity."

"That's pretty much the main reason why." Monokuma explains. "What's more entertaining than doing this to a group of Ultimates? Upupu... If there are no more questions, then I suggest you all go check out your rooms and enjoy the rest of your days. Buh-bye!"

* * *

After Monokuma's departure, we all collectively agreed that we should return to our rooms as suggested to unwind after the long day, before meeting up again in the dining room at 8 for dinner. My room was located at the end of the hall on the left hand side, and was labelled with my name and a pixel image of me. All of the other rooms were labelled in a similar manner.

As I entered my own room, I took a quick look around. It appeared normal, with a desk, set of draws and wardrobe in the areas you'd expect them to be, a bed near the wall in the centre of the room, and a door leading to a bathroom containing a toilet, sink and shower. Naturally, there was a camera and miniature TV on the walls too, as with every room in the building. A digital clock is also on display next to the monitor. Weirdly enough, a large suitcase filled with many of my belongings rests against the wall.

Suddenly, the TV switched on and Monokuma appeared on the screen.

"Apologies for the announcement, but I feel like I should alert you all to some features of your rooms." announced the bear. "Firstly, no water will run during nighttime. This is so you cannot use this to your advantage should you commit a murder, but also because we don't want to waste water now, do we? Lastly, in the drawers, you shall find a toolkit if you are a boy, and a sewing kit if you are a girl. They are all unused and therefore still sealed. For the sewing kits, a diagram of the human body is shown with labels of the best places to stab if you're aiming to kill is provided. Also... please check the envelopes on your desk. Do not discuss the contents of the envelope with anyone as of right now. We will host a house meeting tonight at 9, where I shall explain the purpose of them. That's all for now. Buh-bye!"

And with that, the monitor turned off. Envelope, huh? Sure enough, there's one one my desk and it has my name written on it. Curious, I decide to open it.

Inside the envelope, I first notice a card. On the card is written... Oh crap.

 **Hayato Hare plagiarised some of his theories.**

That was a dark part of my blog history that I had hoped to forget. This was a few years ago, and I have since deleted the posts and apologised to the original creators since, but this certainly is a dark part of my life I had hoped to forget. But the real question is... How does Monokuma know about this? I take a look at what else is inside the envelope. Photos? Sure enough, there's photographic evidence of this too. Screenshots of the long deleted posts and... the emails I exchanged with the original creators? Now I'm concerned. How did that bear get a hold of these...?

Thinking about that, I lay down on my bed. Looking at the clock, there's still a couple hours before we agreed to meet. I simply decide to rest for now, and attempt to process the what happened today.

 **End of Prologue - 18 Guests Remain**

* * *

 **AN:** And that's the prologue! Hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 1 Is coming soon. To respond to a question asked, Ayumi Shino is heavily based on a character from Corpse Party. I wanted to do a crossover between Danganronpa and Corpse Party, but honestly had no idea where to go with it, so I incorporated a character based on a character from Corpse Party as a little joke. Imagine that in this universe, Corpse Party is still a game, and Ayumi just happens to bear a striking resemblance to one of its characters - a resemblance which nobody (except Sakuya) notices.


	3. Chapter 1 - Dark Secrets - Act 1

**Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall (Daily Life) - Act 1**

I awoke from my nap with about 15 minutes until our agreed meeting time. Before leaving, I make sure I look decent, then rush off to the dining room to meet up with everyone.

Despite being early, I notice many of the others have already gathered. Sakuya and Karen are sat at the end of the table, in deep conversation. Michiru sits at the head of the table, with Naoki apparently acting as her servant. I notice Kou, Yuki and Kyo all gathered in the kitchen preparing food for everyone. Lastly, Yosuke, Lucas and Kaede are all just sitting there in silence at different parts of the table - Yosuke deep in thought, Lucas not really paying anyone any attention, and Kaede sitting awkwardly. As I'm looking around, deciding on where to sit, Michiru beckons me over, so I take a seat next to her.

"We didn't get much of a chance to talk earlier." she speaks. "I have to admit, you intrigue me."

"Uh... Thanks?" I reply, unsure as to what the correct response here is. "How so?"

Michiru thinks for a moment. "You seem... Mysterious. And not who I initially thought of you as."

That explains nothing. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I didn't expect your Ultimate talent to be so... interesting." she responds, in a somewhat flirtatious tone. "How should I put this... You're good looking, but rather plain. I thought you'd just have a basic talent like being lucky, or heck, not even having a talent."

Was... was that a compliment or an insult? Before I get the chance to respond, someone else steps in to confront Michiru. Kiyomi.

"And what the hell do you think you're doing, you bitch?" she confronts the School Idol.

"Hm? Just getting to know my fellow students." Michiru calmly responds. "What's it to you?"

"It's pretty obvious that you were flirting with him. Back off, bitch. He's mine." Kiyomi responds, taking a seat on the other side of me. "Right, Hayato-Darling?"

Hayato... Darling? We have never been close, so why she's calling me that, I'll never know.

"Uh... what?" I ask, confused. "Kiyomi, are you-"

"MICHIRU-SAMA!" Naoki runs in, holding a cup of tea, interrupting my sentence. "I've prepared it just how you like it!"

Naoki proudly hands Michiru the tea and she takes a sip of it. Resting the tea on the table, she nods. "Not bad. Not great, but not bad. As a reward, you may kiss my foot."

Michiru promptly sticks out her foot at Naoki. Without hesitating, Naoki bows down and kisses her foot, seemingly happy about it.

"M-may I sit next to you now, Michiru-sama?" Naoki nervously asks.

"I allowed you to kiss my foot and you didn't even thank me?" Michiru glares daggers at Naoki. "For being so disrespectful, you may not. Sit at the other end of the room. You have my permission to admire me from afar though."

Naoki walks to the other end of the room, both disappointed and happy. I simply watch in confusion as to what I just witnessed.

As I struggle to hold a conversation while Kiyomi keeps bickering with Michiru, everyone else slowly makes there way into the room and takes a seat. By our scheduled meeting time, everyone has arrived and is seated, with Kou, Yuki and Kyo having brought in meals for everyone.

"Whoa. You guys prepared all this?" Naoki comments, already digging in to the food. "It tastes great!"

"Then dig in!" Yuki cheerfully responds. "We may be trapped here, but Monokuma was kind enough to supply us with a great variety of food."

Yosuke stands up upon hearing this. "And why are you all okay with that?!"

"While we were deciding upon what to do for dinner, Monokuma showed up to us and told us he's making sure the kitchen is always stocked." Kyo replies. "He may be keeping us trapped here, but it's clear he doesn't intend to harm us."

"Providing we follow his rules!" Yosuke reminds everyone. "It doesn't change the fact that we're all hostages here!"

"We've been here barely a day." I remind him. "We don't even know why he's doing this."

"Regardless of the reasoning..." Kou steps in. "It does seem like this place is well suited for long term living. Though I am concerned by the metal bars on the higher levels..."

"Wait. So this is all real?" Serena asks, confused. "So this wasn't just an act the school put on for us?"

"If it is an act, then it's gone way too far." Lucas responds, in an annoyed tone. "Need I remind you of the envelopes in our rooms?"

"Shhh!" Kaede speaks up. "We're not supposed to talk about those!"

"We're not supposed to talk about the contents of them." Lucas reminds her. "Just talking about it in general is fine."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, how _did_ Monokuma know about that?" Ayumi comments, slightly nervous.

"Well it's... obvious that... he did his... research..." Nagisa comments, interrupting herself with a yawn. "Besides... mine wasn't... even that... bad..."

"Speak for yourself!" Naoki screams. "If mine got out, then everyone would think I'm an idiot!"

"Hey, you've got nothing to worry about." Michiru reassures him. "We already _know_ you're an idiot. If it got out, nothing would change."

"Whew. That's reassuring." Naoki thanks Michiru, apparently content with this response.

"Yes, ahem..." Yosuke speaks up again. "Moving on from that... I believe that if we're going to be here for an extended period of time, then it would seem most likely that we'll all be living together from now on."

"Obviously..." Kou replied, somewhat annoyed.

"So I propose we hold daily meetings, where we all gather for breakfast." Yosuke suggests to us. "This would be so that we can get to know each other better and build up trust. Let's see... Nighttime ends at 7am, so... how about every morning at 8am? To give us time to get ready for the day."

None of us had any issue with that. After all, we'd all have to get breakfast at some point anyway, so what's the harm in eating together. Also, I feel like Yosuke is the type of person who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer...

As we're all sitting there, eating dinner and discussing various things together, I suddenly notice Monokuma has casually joined us at the table, with a plate of his own food. I'm not the only person to notice, as Sakuya, Karen and Kyo are all looking too.

"What? Have I got something on my face?" Monokuma asks, with plenty of grains of rice stuck to his face.

At this moment, everyone else comes to notice Monokuma's presence. Monokuma quickly wipes his face with a napkin and jumps up onto the table.

"Upupupupu... Had a great meal? It's time for our meeting yet nobody showed up. Probably because I never told you guys where to meet. My bad."

"So what's this about, Monokuma?" Yosuke asks, impatient. "I hope you're going to be explaining those envelopes to us."

"Exactly!" Monokuma cheers. "This guy gets it. So you've all received a card and some photos, both of which expose your biggest secret... Some worse than others, I admit." Monokuma looks directly at Naoki. "Some just plain idiotic..." Then directs his attention back at the group. "Now, you may share your secrets with each other, should you wish."

"And why would we do that?" I question Monokuma. "It's not like we know each other that well anyway. We all only met earlier today."

"Eh, true." Monokuma admits. "But that's because you have... a time limit, we'll say?"

"A time limit?" I ask, confused. "For what?"

"Glad you asked!" the bear perks up. "As a sign of trust, you must share you secrets with each other! Who shares to who is irrelevant. _But..._ Three other people must know your secret! Who knows does not matter. You have four days, so you gotta tell two more people!"

"Wait... Why two? Shouldn't it be three?" Akio speaks up, after staying silent for a noticeably long period of time.

"Nope! Because I have placed another envelope in your rooms! This is basically the exact same envelope you all received, but for somebody else's secret!" Monokuma explains. "However you can't tell another person who's secret you have or what it is - except for the person who's secret it is. Oh, uh, but you don't _have_ to tell them you know their secret. What you do with this knowledge is up to you!"

"You said we have four days to do this." Kyo inquires. "What happens if we don't make this deadline?"

Monokuma laughs ominously. "Upupupu... I'll punish you! Or at least anyone who doesn't meet the requirements. There is an alternative, however... If one of you decides to kill another, then the whole thing is dropped! No need to share any more!"

"And why would any of us do that?!" Yosuke shouts, clearly angry.

"Duh. To keep your secrets safe?" Monokuma casually replies. "Some of you guys have some... dark secrets. I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone to know. So some may want to kill to keep their secrets safe."

Silence fills the room. Surely nobody would go that far to keep their secrets safe... right? As I think this, I hear a ring come from the tablet Monokuma gave us.

"Oh, that's the complete rules for this 'motive', we'll say." Monokuma explains. "I'd recommend checking that out when you get the chance. That's all for now, anyway. Enjoy the rest of the day! Buh-bye!"

And with that, Monokuma leaves. As we all sit in silence, I check the rules on my tablet.

 **Mansion Motive #1: Share your secrets with three people. Time Limit: Four Days**

 **Rule 1 - Guests must share their secrets with three other people.**

 **Rule 2 - Evidence must be provided, to ensure all guests tell the truth. This does not always require the evidence provided.**

 **Rule 3 - Guests have received the secrets of one other person. This counts towards the three person total.**

 **Rule 3.5 - Guests who have received another person's secret do not need to tell that person they know their secret.**

 **Rule 4 - You may not tell another guest about someone else's secret. This is a sign of distrust and will be punished accordingly.**

 **Rule 5 - You may not tell another guest who's secret you know. This is a sign of distrust and will be punished accordingly.**

 **Rule 6 - You may tell another guest who knows your secret, unless they know due to Rule 3.**

 **Rule 6.5 - If a guest knows your secret due to Rule 3, you may only tell another guest that they know with their permission.**

 **Rule 6.75 - Permission cannot be revoked, nor can it be given accidentally or against the person's will.**

 **Rule 7 - Guests may tell more than three people their secret, should they wish.**

 **Rule 8 - Information about who knows your secret and who's secret you know will be displayed in the guest section of your tablet.**

 **Rule 9 - Any guest who fails to meet the requirements for the motive by the deadline will be punished.**

I switch off the tablet. Everyone else soon follows. The rest of dinner is quiet, with many people quickly returning to their rooms. I am among those who quickly return to their room.

* * *

I return to my room and, sure enough, notice another envelope on my desk, next to the other one. Nervous, I decide to take a look inside. Sure enough, there's a card and some photos.

 **Kyo ######## let his emotions get in the way.**  
 **(Surname withheld for personal reasons - MK)**

Kyo? He didn't strike me as a person who is influenced by his emotions... I take a look at the photos provided. I look at the photos, one by one.

Kyo, smiling, hanging out with an unfamiliar girl with strawberry blonde hair.  
Kyo, meeting with a group of detectives. Are they... working together?  
The girl, covered in blood, surrounded by a dead body. She shows no remorse.  
A news article, which states the suspect is unknown.  
Kyo, crying in front of a grave.

The details are a bit hidden, but I would wager that this girl was close to Kyo. She then committed a crime, which Kyo had been asked to assist with solving. Being close to her, he didn't want to betray her and lied, claiming that she was innocent, and then helping her fake her own death. At least, that's my theory. I could be wrong, but... I should probably speak to Kyo about this later. I put the note and photos back in the envelope and think.

 ***knock knock knock***

A loud knock on my door. Whoever is doing it is clearly panicking. Without hesitating, I rush to the door and open it. Ayumi is outside. She's collapsed to the floor and is in tears.

"Ayumi? What's wrong?" I ask, concerned.

She looks up at me, tears still in her eyes. "D-Demora-chan! How could you betray us like that?"

Naturally confused, I look at her, noticing the envelope in her hand. Poking out is... one the photos of my blog. Ah... So that's it.

"Ayumi, please calm down." I calmly tell her. "Come on inside and I'll explain everything."

Ayumi simply nods and enters my room. We take a seat on my bed and I explain to her about what happened, how I regret it, and how I set it right. She seems content with this response, and calms down.

"I did wonder why many posts suddenly went down all at once..." Ayumi comments, drying her eyes. "I guess that's why then... At least you did the right thing in the end though!"

"Yeah. So don't go freaking out like that again, okay?" I reassure her. "I honestly thought it was something more serious."

"Heh. Sorry." Ayumi chuckled slightly. "Still... This whole thing is kind of fucked up... Revealing our biggest secrets to everyone like this, or lose our lives. That's just..."

"Yeah..." I simply nod and agree in response.

"I guess... I should tell you my secret. Fair's fair." Ayumi speaks, nervous. She takes another envelope out of her pockets.

"Well... Only if you want to." I tell her, not wanting her to tell me out of obligation. Though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.

"No. It's fine. Really. Not like I get to keep this a secret anyway. You know, with the circumstances." Ayumi replies. She takes a deep breath before sharing. "I... I got all of my friends killed."

As she says this, she shows me the card and photos.

 **Ayumi Shino accidentally killed their friends.**

The photos showcase Ayumi and a few others performing some sort of occultist ritual in a dark, candle lit room. The next photo showcases one of the candles falling over, starting a fire, which gets out of hand in the following photos.

"They only performed that ritual because I asked them to." Ayumi explains, scared at the thought of it. "I messed up and that fire started. I was the only one who made it out alive..." She sits, shaking.

"You don't have to tell me any more." I reassure her. "It was an accident. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"But... I'm a killer!" Ayumi screams at me, tears building up in her eyes. "I deserve to be here in this fucked up situation! If there was any justice, I'd already be dead!"

 **DING-DONG**

At the worst timing ever, a bell noise rings, followed by the TV switching on for an announcement.

Monokuma appears on the monitor. "Ahem! May I have your attention? The time is now 10pm, meaning it is officially nighttime! The front door and doors to the dining area will now be locked, making entry strictly prohibited until morning. Running water will not be available in your bedrooms also, but the communal bath _will_ remain open. That's all for now. G'night!"

And with that, the monitor switches off.

"I'm going back to my room." Ayumi stands as she says this, refusing eye contact. She speaks no other words on her way out, leaving me in complete silence in my room.

Sitting there in silence, I decide to simply prepare for bed. Before I do so, however, I check the contents of the suitcase to find something. Yep, there it is. Searching through the suitcase, most of the contents are my clothes, however also inside was my journal and my pen. I usually take this thing everywhere with me so that I can note things down as I think of them - mostly things for potential theories, but still. It feels weird to not carry it around with me, but I must have packed it into my suitcase this morning and... wait. _Did_ I pack it into my suitcase? If I recall correctly, I was bringing my case with me this morning as I was on my way to the Academy dorms, which all students were to check into today... But I didn't pack the journal with me...

Curious, I open the journal, and sure enough, everything is as I remember it being. I quickly note this thought down onto a new page, along with a quick recap of what happened today. At the bottom, I add my theory of Kyo for later reference. Closing the journal, I place it on my desk and simply head to bed. Today has been a long day, and I need to make sure I'm well rested for tomorrow - with whatever may happen.

* * *

 _I'm standing in a dark classroom. What's going on? I hear laughter. People are talking._

 _"That's seriously his talent? Wow, what a waste."_

 _"He's just making shit up. Anyone can do that. Heck, I'm sure I could probably do it better."_

 _"He needs to seriously learn his place. Only **real** Ultimates deserve a place here."_

 _Shut up. All of these people I don't recognise are insulting me. I'm right here, you know... I'm sure whatever talent you guys have isn't any better. A spotlight focuses on me. A classroom of students are staring at me. They're talking about me. And they're not being nice about it. Shut up. Shut up. Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup SHUT UP!_

 _Silence._

 _A boy appears in front of me. He's wearing the same uniform as everyone else. Where have I seen that uniform before... I can't make out any big details, but he's wearing glasses. He reaches out a hand to me._

 _"Don't listen to them. You are you. Nothing can change that. And even if it could, why would that matter? My name is Dan Honda, and I believe that nobody can define you, but you..."_

 _The boy keeps talking, but his voice gets quieter and quieter as the room gets darker and darker..._

* * *

 **DING-DONG**

"Upupu... The time is now 7am, meaning nighttime is officially over! Rise and shine! Get ready to start your days with a smile! And remember to build up trust with each other!"

I awake to a morning announcement. I'm in an unfamiliar environment... Oh, that's right. The Monokuma Mansion. But wait. What was that dream about? It felt... real. Quickly, I rush out of bed and begin writing in my journal about the dream, remembering not to miss out any details. When I finish, I close the journal and head into the bathroom to shower.

Upon finishing my morning routine, I look over at the clock. 7:45. Fifteen minutes until we all agreed to meet. I decide to head down now, with nothing better to do. Before leaving, I make sure to grab my journal. I also decide to grab the envelopes that Monokuma gave me and slipped them inside.

* * *

As I arrive in the dining room, I am once again not the first to arrive. Yosuke and Kou are already there, deep in conversation. Wait... Are they actually arguing? I decide to step forward.

"Morning guys!" I greet. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, morning Hayato." Yosuke greets. "Kind of. We were just discussing something."

"Not really a discussion." Kou corrects, somewhat annoyed. "This idiot was about to do something foolish, so I was attempting to talk him out of it."

"Foolish?" I ask, confused. "Why, what was he gonna do?"

Yosuke sighs. "Remember what Monokuma said? About the 'final trial' thing, I mean. Well..."

"Were you going to call a meeting?" I ask, concerned. "Because I really don't think you should right now."

"Exactly my point." Kou agrees. "If Monokuma decides you're wasting his time, he won't hesitate to punish you."

"But we've got to try something!" Yosuke shouts, annoyed. "Are we just supposed to do what he says?! And besides, what's the worst he'll do? Lock me up for a bit?"

"Try being killed." Kyo speaks up, entering the room. "I spoke to Monokuma last night, hoping to confirm a few things. Unless you have enough of these 'secret points', punishments will most likely result in your death. Best case scenario is a minor injury, and that's with a large value of points."

Yosuke gulps at this. "Oh... I-I see... So I guess that's out of the question for now then..."

"Exactly." Kyo responds, taking a seat. "But I suggest we discuss this more when everyone else shows up."

Oh right. The meeting. I take a seat at the table, with Yosuke and Kou quickly doing the same. As time passes, more people show up. Also arriving early were Michiru, Lucas, Yuki and Karen. Arriving at a time close enough to our agreed time of 8am, were Yu, Sakuya, Kiyomi, Serena and Mamoru. Five to ten minutes late, we had Ayumi, Akio and Kaede.

Yosuke was clearly getting impatient. "Where on earth is everyone? We're missing Naoki and Nagisa!"

"You don't suppose..." Kaede began to speak, before cutting herself off. "No... we can't got thinking like that..."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Ms Sakura was still sleeping." Yu commented, sharing his thoughts. "As for Mr Inoue... May he's just lazy?"

"In that case, we need to go fetch them!" Yosuke declared.

"Don't worry about it. We're here..." called out Naoki, who was letting out a yawn. Following him was Nagisa, who still looked really tired. "Sorry, I couldn't get out of bed. It was just too comfy..."

"I... slept through... the announcement..." Nagisa responded, taking a seat and resting her face against the table.

Although I could see a hint of anger on Yosuke's face, I could also tell that he was relieved that everybody was still fine. With how he's been acting, it's almost like he's our leader.

"Anyway, onto business!" Yosuke exclaimed. "We should discuss what to do next."

"Isn't it obvious?" responded Yu, somewhat annoyed by the question. "We should find a way out of here as soon as we can. Prove that Monokuma has no control over us."

"I disagree. The bear wouldn't be foolish enough to leave a way out for us, unless he intends for us to leave." Lucas calmly responded. "We should stay here and abide by the rules. Monokuma will provide us a means of escape when he feels like giving one to us. In the meantime, we can live just fine in here."

"Yeah, that's true. There are enough supplies to last for a while." added Kaede. "And we have no idea where we are. Leaving is one thing, finding our way home is another. It would be better to stay here as a single collection."

"So you're willing to just accept life in here?!" responded and angry Yuki.

"No... It's just..." Kaede began, in shock to Yuki's response.

"Personally, I think Lucas has the right idea." Yosuke announces. "And as our Leader, I think that-"

"And why exactly are you the leader?" Kou interrupts, agitated. "Need I remind you of what you were thinking of attempting earlier?"

Yosuke sighs. "It was a spur of the moment idea. And I'm the leader because nobody else volunteered, so I'm clearly the best candidate to step forward."

I looked around. I could tell that a few people, namely Lucas and Kaede, seemed okay with Yosuke being the leader. Some people, however, such as Kou and Yuki, disliked his self-nomination. Within moments, and argument had up-roared among most of the people gathered. While some agreed that Yosuke would make a great leader, some people felt like they were better for the job.

"You couldn't make the right decisions even if they were the most logical choice." argued Kou. "I would be a superior choice."

"Yeah right. You couldn't lead balls." Naoki counter-argued. "Yosuke's the Ultimate Personal Trainer, so it sounds like he has experience as a leader. Probably."

"Can't we all just chill?" Akio shared his thoughts. "We're here long term - don't want to make things awkward."

"I'd volunteer myself, however I feel like that would require me putting effort into this, so I shall stay with Yosuke as the leader." Michiru casually threw her opinion in.

"Obviously I'd be a better fit." Kiyomi also volunteered herself. "A lot of you guys couldn't lead a thirsty dog to water."

"Well we can't just sit around and do nothing!" Yuki called out over the noise.

"Onee-chan..." Karen hid in her Sakuya's embrace, clearly uncomfortable.

"Can't you idiots just shut up!" Sakuya shouted. "I don't care who's in charge, just don't take things out of control like this!"

Nobody was listening. Everyone was so focused on what they had to say, that they didn't care to listen to each other. A few people have yet to say a word in this argument. Kyo, Nagisa, Ayumi, Serena and Mamoru all remained silent. Sakuya and Akio appeared to be trying to calm everyone down. I sat there, thinking of how to stop everything. As I did, I noticed Monokuma standing by the door watching, eating popcorn. He notices me staring and walks over.

"Want some?" the bear asks, offering me some popcorn. "Gotta have snacks for such a great show."

"How are you okay with this?" I ask him, confused. "Didn't you make that last motive so we could all become closer, or something? Is this all just an entertaining show to you?"

Monokuma stares blankly at me. "So what you're saying is... you _don't_ want any popcorn?"

"No!" I reply, annoyed.

"Good. Because I already finished it." Monokuma laughs it off, putting away the empty popcorn packet. "But yeah, that's basically it. As long as you live by the rules, I don't care what you guys do. Deadline still applies though. I can't help but think that if this goes on, then nobody will want to share their secrets... Oooh! All the people I get to execute... SO FUN!"

Execute?! This is news to me. Monokuma must have noticed the shock on my face, because he explains further.

"Oh? Did I not make it clear? Most punishments will be executions. There _are_ exceptions, of course. Like the points. But at this rate... nobody is getting any points. Well, maybe a few people." Monokuma explained. "I'm just gonna chill in the kitchen. Grab myself a soda or something. You want one?"

I stare blankly at Monokuma, not responding to his question.

"You're right. Bad time." Monokuma responds. "Tell you what. I'll bring some to your room later. We'll talk more then."

And with that, Monokuma casually walks into the kitchen. That was weird.

Looking back at the group, almost everybody is still engrossed in the arguing, with Serena, Ayumi and Mamoru having now joined in with the arguing. Nagisa has surprisingly fallen asleep at the table, while Kyo has left the room. I think once again about how I could stop the arguing. Without thinking, I begin to shout.

"EVERYBODY, JUST BE QUIET FOR A MOMENT!" I shout. "WHO CARES WHO'S IN CHARGE?"

Silence fills the room.

"All this arguing about who's best to be in charge is honestly just annoying." I speak in a more normal tone. "We're all in charge of what we do. If people want to just live here calmly, then just do that. If you want to find a way out, go for it. Just don't expect everyone to follow through with your idea of how to handle this. But in times like this, we need to stick together, leader or not."

As I finish my speech, a few people start clapping. A few more moments of silence fill the air before anyone else starts speaking.

"Uh... Yeah..." Yosuke trips over his own words. "You're right. Sorry for getting so worked up over it."

Kou sighs. "I hate to admit it, but I was wrong. We _do_ need to stick together. But I still think a leader is necessary."

At this moment, Kyo steps back into the room. "Does it honestly matter? If you all want to play 'follow the leader', then go right ahead. For now, we have more pressing matters."

"Such as?" Kou asks, agitated.

Kyo sighs. "It has been twelve hours since Monokuma gave us that deadline. I'm sure we've all taken a look at the envelopes Monokuma provided us, no?"

Silence.

"Oh yeah..." Yuki comments, disappointed. "I kinda forgot about all that..."

"We... can't just go along with what he wants, right?" Kaede questions. "Right?"

Kyo shakes his head. "The punishment Monokuma speaks of will most likely cost us our lives, so it may not be worth risking it. I'm not too thrilled about sharing my secret, but I'll gladly share it with enough people to meet the requirements if it means I get to live another day."

Silence again.

"I'm sure... A lot of people might not agree..." I respond. "I mean, some of these are secrets for a reason."

"We only need to share it with two other people." Lucas comments. "I'm not exactly proud of mine, but I'll share it with the bare minimum if it means I can keep my life."

"But ultimately... we're at no obligation to help anyone with this though." Michiru speaks up. "Only those who fail to meet the deadline get punished. I guess a leader in this situation is kind of pointless."

Michiru speaks the truth, though its not a pleasant truth. In this case, we're just helping ourselves survive by doing this. How can this build any trust up between us?

Kyo nods. "We don't need to speak about this now, but I do suggest we hold another big meeting like this in three days. We can discuss what to do from there. I will not be making the morning meeting on any other days, however."

With that, Kyo leaves the room. Silence fills the room once again, with many people opting to leave after that. I look at the monitor on the wall. 10:03am. I sigh, and also leave the room, wondering how I should spend my day.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **A/N:** And that's that act. Working on the other acts to get them done soon-ish. My intention of the motives is for them to have lasting effects on the characters, so the secrets introduced here will be playing a big part in later chapters too, hopefully. Anyway, Act 2 should be out within a few days. Hope you enjoyed reading this part


	4. Chapter 1 - Dark Secrets - Act 2

**Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall (Daily Life) - Act 2**

I sit in the living room, thinking about the situation. Three people need to know our secrets. One already knows, due to the motive Monokuma provided, but it's our responsibility to tell two others. Ayumi already knows mine, but I still need to tell two others. Should I tell Kyo? We may not have spoken much, but I _do_ know his secret, so fair is fair. Or should I just not mention anything to him and just tell someone else. But in that case, who?

As I'm sitting there, lost in my own thoughts, I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I turn around to find Kiyomi, greeting me with a smile.

"Hey, Hayato-Darling." she greets me, strangely happy.

"Oh, uh... Hey Kiyomi." I awkwardly respond, unsure as to why she keeps calling me that. "What's up?"

"I... uh... Wanted to talk to you..." she nervously responds, blushing. "Can we go somewhere more private?"

"Sure, I don't mind." I respond, curious as to what she wants to talk about.

* * *

Kiyomi lead me into her room. She closes the door and sighs.

"I..." she begins, face turning red. "I'm in love with you!"

I'm not sure how to respond. We've barely spoken, yet... she's _in love_ with me? Confused, I speak up.

"Uh... Why's that?" I ask, thinking carefully about my words. "We've barely spoken, so how do you even know you feel that way?"

I can feel Kiyomi's gaze on me. Something... feels off. I look around the room, nervous. I notice some photos on her desk. They were photos of... me? Some even showcased Kiyomi... watching me? I notice a card lying next to them.

"Hayato-Darling!" she screams, staring intensely at me. "I'm sorry, but... I've been stalking you for a while now!"

I look at the card.

 **Kiyomi Sora has been stalking a fellow guest since before arrival.**

"I first laid my eyes on you at the entrance exam for high school." Kiyomi explains, slowly approaching me. "It was love at first sight. I quickly found out who you were. I learned your address, previous school and even your school schedule! I could never get the courage to speak to you, but that's why... I just HAD to get closer to you in anyway possible!"

I back away, scared. This woman is insane. She... stalked me? For so long... I look for my chance to escape.

"That's why... this is such a perfect opportunity." Kiyomi backs me into a corner. "Now we're trapped here forever. We can start dating, become boyfriend and girlfriend, and start a life together! We'll name our first child Hayomi - a combination of both of our names! Ooh! I can't wait! Drop your clothes and let's get started!"

Kiyomi quickly forces herself on me, locking our lips by force. As I accept defeat, I hear an announcement play.

"Ahem. Hayato Hare to meet Monokuma at the top of the stairs immediately. That is... Hayato Hare to the top floor at once! Thank you."

Is... Is Monokuma my guardian angel? No, probably not. But still. Saved by the bear. Without hesitating, I push Kiyomi aside and rush to the door.

"Sorry! Monokuma is calling me! Don't want me to get punished, right?"

Kiyomi reluctantly admits defeat and I leave.

* * *

I arrive at the top of the stairs on the top floor. First thing I notice is that the container Yosuke, Serena and Naoki arrived in is still there. Monokuma stands in front of it.

"Is... Is Monokuma my guardian angel?" Monokuma speaks. "I bet you thought that when I called you here."

Can he read minds?

"Upupupu... Honestly though I have no reason to call you here." Monokuma admits. "Just thought you needed a 'get out of jail free' card. No need to thank me. Okay, you can thank me a little."

I sigh. "Honestly... Thanks for that. I didn't know she was... like that."

"Yeah, no kidding. Full on Yandere." Monokuma responds, taking out a can of cola. He opens it and begins drinking. "Probably. I don't doubt she'll kill someone if left to her own devices."

"Please don't talk like that..." I sigh once more. "Because I can honestly see that happening now..."

"So who else you telling your secret to?" Monokuma swiftly changes the subject. "Time is counting down. You know who you're telling yet?"

I remain silent. "What does it matter to you?"

Monokuma finishes his drink and crushes the can. "Eh. I don't want to see you die. I like you. You got a friendly vibe to you, ya know? I would place you in my prediction of who will make it out of this game ali- crap."

"Game?" I ask, confronting Monokuma about that slip of the tongue. "So this really is all just a game to you?"

Monokuma awkwardly laughs. "Would you look at the time. I really should be going. Buh-bye!"

In a rush, Monokuma runs away, quickly disappearing. I sigh, noticing the can he left behind. I pick it up, taking a closer look at it.

 **Mono-cola. Now with cherry.**

I sigh. Guess I'll have to through this can away when I get the chance.

* * *

I lay down in my room. I've written a recap of what happened today in my journal, mentioning all the key points - the argument from this morning, Kiyomi's obsession, and Monokuma's slip of tongue. I also write about the Mono-cola, mostly because it's such a strange concept to me. I've left the empty can on my desk, to study at a later time.

 ***KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK***

I head over to my door and peek outside. It's Karen. I open the door fully.

"Karen? Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, uh..." Karen appears to be at a loss for words. "Onee-chan... She... uh..."

"Sakuya?" I ask. "What about her?"

"She... Sh-she wants you to come to her room!" Karen quickly spurts out, before running off, embarrassed.

Sakuya wants me to come to her room? I look around. Sakuya's room is... the room opposite mine. Why did she need to send her sister to fetch me? Ignoring this thought, I grab my journal and room key and head out.

I knock on Sakuya's door. Quickly, she opens the door - wearing only a towel.

"Ah, Hayachii!" she greets me. "Come on in!"

"Uh... Is now a bad time?" I ask, entering the room, but looking away from her.

"Hm? No, I was the one who called for you, remember?" Sakuya responds, oblivious to the reason behind my question.

"Y-yeah, I know that. It's just... the way you're dressed?" I decide to bring it to her attention.

"The towel? Yeah, I just got out the shower. Besides... it's easier this way..." Sakuya responds, blushing.

"What is?" I ask, concerned.

"Hayachii, I trust you, so I'm going to tell you!" Sakuya nervously speaks to me. "I... dye my hair pink."

I take a good look at her hair. "Yeah, I kind of figured as much... Pink isn't a natural hair colour. Probably."

Sakuya shakes her head. "Yeah, but... I wasn't talking about that hair..."

Before I get the chance to ask, Sakuya drops her towel. I quickly understand everything.

"Oh..." I respond embarrassed, looking away.

"The photos aren't exactly flattering, so this was easier..." Sakuya responds, also embarrassed, putting the towel back on. "Since we need to show evidence and all..."

"Yeah, I guess, but... Why did you want me to know?" I ask, looking back over when I deem it safe to do so.

"Like I said. I trust you." Sakuya explains. "Let's face the facts. A lot of people here don't seem that trustworthy. They put on a kind facade, then betray you when you're no longer of use to them..."

I can see a sense of disappointment in her eyes. She seems to be talking from experience. We awkwardly sit in silence for a bit. I decide to break the silence, taking my photos out of my journal.

"I plagiarised many of my theories." I share, showing the photos with my confession. "I don't want to share this secret with anyone because I'm ashamed of it, but I trust you too, Sakuya. And in times like this, it's good to have someone you can trust."

A faint smile appears on Sakuya's face. "Thanks, Hayachii."

"That aside..." I quickly change the subject. "Did you want to put some clothes on?"

Sakuya takes a look at the towel she's wearing, then looks back at me. "Well, you've already seen me without it on, so what's the issue?"

"Sakuya, you're too innocent." I tell her, resting my arms on her shoulders.

Sakuya winks at me. "Maybe you're not innocent enough."

I can't help but laugh at that response. Sakuya laughs too. We just stay there laughing for a good few minutes. Eventually, the laughter dies down, and Sakuya speaks up.

"You know, Hayachii. We're actually pretty similar, if you think about it." she comments.

"How so?" I ask, slightly confused.

"I mean... How many people can be this trusting towards people they barely know?" Sakuya explains.

Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense. Given the circumstances, not many people would be as trusting towards each other. The events of this morning just help to prove that...

"Oh, and I've been meaning to ask..." Sakuya speaks up once more. "Why do you keep your hair like that?" She points at the ahoge on my head as she says this.

"My hair? What about it?" I ask, unsure as to what she means.

"You know, with it sticking up like that. My hair does it too, but I just flatten it down each morning." Sakuya explains. "But doesn't it bother you?"

"No, why would it?" I ask, placing my hand against my hair. "It's just how my hair is normally. I feel like it's better to embrace these kinds of things, rather than to hide it."

"Don't you feel self conscious about it?" Sakuya asks, now touching her hair too. "Afraid people will judge you?"

I shake my head. "I am who I am. No point in letting other's opinions shape me. That's why... I regret plagiarising those theories. I was hiding who I really was."

It's true. That was a time of my life where I cared too much about what others thought, which was exactly why I did what I felt like I had to to become popular - even if it was only online through my blog. But once I realised what I was doing... I realised I was only causing trouble to myself. So I decided not to let the views of others shape me. I hid nothing about me from that point onward - except that which I was ashamed of. I guess my strange hair style is also symbolic of that? Maybe I'm looking too deep into this.

* * *

I ended up spending more time with Sakuya after that, where we somehow ended up sharing information about ourselves - or, I shared information about myself, if we're being honest about it. I didn't end up doing much after that, simply opting to chill out outside the mansion, in front of the fountain. Before I knew it, it had already gotten dark out, with the nighttime announcement on its way soon. With nothing else to do, I head back inside. On the way, I bump into Lucas.

"Hmm? Oh, Hayato." he greets me, sounding bored. "You're out late."

"Yeah, just bored really." I reply honestly.

"Bored huh?" Lucas is intrigued by my response, for some reason. "Perfect. Come with me."

He quickly grabs my arm and drags me towards the storage room. Waiting for us, were Yosuke, Akio and Kaede.

Yosuke looked at us impatient. "It's about time you got here. Why's Hayato with you?"

"He was bored, so I figured he could join us." Lucas explained. "Besides, the more the merrier, am I right?"

"Eh, I guess..." Yosuke seemed to accept that response. "Well, whatever." He looks over at me. "To explain what's going on, well... We're gonna try to expose a Mansion Secret tomorrow."

"Huh?" I state that out of surprise. Did he already figure something out?

Yosuke doesn't seem surprised by my response. "Akio, could you explain it to him?"

Akio nods. "Well basically, we were abducted by aliens and they all planned to steal our... uh... plants so they could sustain an ecosystem of their own."

Yosuke stares blankly at Akio. "What? That's not... What's wrong with you?"

"Do you even know why you're here?" Kaede asks the Pacifist. Akio simply shakes his head in response.

"I'm gonna be honest..." Akio explains. "I found these weird pills in here earlier and have been tripping ever since."

Yosuke shakes his head in disappointment. "Kaede? Could you..."

Kaede nods ans steps forward. "We have reason to believe one of us is the mastermind behind this. And we're going to confront them about it tomorrow morning. We were going to share evidence we had gathered tonight."

"Not me." Lucas shares. "I was actually going to talk them out of it."

I shake my head. "Yosuke, remember what happens if you're wrong?"

Yosuke sighs and lowers his head. "Yeah, but... We have to do something. And besides... we have a pretty strong lead here!"

Lucas shakes hid head. "We don't."

"No, we do!" Kaede insists. She faces me. "I think it's possible that the mastermind is female. While I have no strong evidence, I do-"

"Sorry, but... Mastermind?" I ask, confused.

"The one controlling Monokuma." Lucas explains. "Someone is clearly controlling that thing from somewhere in the mansion. They're probably also the one watching us through the security cameras everywhere."

I nod. "Okay, that makes sense, but... why do you think they're female?"

"Well you see..." Kaede begins. "It's just a hunch."

I can feel myself dropping to the floor as a result of that response. Pulling myself back to my feet, I speak my concerns. "You're... basing this off a hunch? That's suicide."

"Exactly." Lucas agrees with my point. "If you had evidence, then you should go for it, but Monokuma won't accept that based off a hunch. He told us he doesn't want us to 'Trial and Error' this, remember?"

"But what choice do we have?!" Yosuke argues. "We need to take risks like this sometimes, right?"

I shake my head. "Not like this. We can't have someone risking their life over a simple hunch. We're all getting out of here. Alive."

Yosuke sighs. "Yeah, you've got a point. Forget I said anything. It's off, Kaede. But we'll keep investigating."

Kaede breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank god... I didn't actually want to confront that bear anyway..."

"What if Monokuma is actually a maid..." Akio mutters to nobody in particular, while lying face first on the floor. "Or even a cross-dresser..."

We all stare at him, concerned. Should... Should we do something?

* * *

"The time is now 10pm, meaning it is officially nighttime! The doors to the dining room will be locked, as will the front door. Please exercise caution when out of your room at night. Now have a good night rest and prepare for more secret sharing tomorrow!"

I simply lay down in my bed. Today was a long day, but not uneventful. I've already written notes about the day in my journal, but I can't help but think about what Yosuke and Kaede said. The Mastermind? Could they really be one of us? Actually, how could that be possible. If Monokuma is being controlled by them, how could they do that among the crowd of us? Maybe he's just on autopilot? I decide to head to bed and think more about this at a later time.

* * *

 _"Hey! You got a minute?"_

 _A voice called out to me. It was the boy from earlier. Dan... Honda? I think that was._

 _"Hayato Hare, right?" he asks. "You remember me, right? I butted in the other day."_

 _"Yeah, I remember you." I reply. "Thanks again for that."_

 _Dan shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. I was just doing the right thing. I hate it when people talk like that about others. I'll reintroduce myself to you. Dan Honda, second year. Guess that means I'm your senpai. Oh, you can just call me Dan though."_

 _"Well, thanks again for your help, Dan-senpai."_

 _"You can drop the 'senpai' part. Anyway, if I'm to be honest with you, I actually have a request of you. Would you be willing to listen?"_

 _"A request? Sure, what's up?"_

 _Dan's face begins to show a serious expression. "I'm here at this Academy for an important reason. And I believe... I'll need your help with it."_

 _"My help?" For what reason could he possibly want my help?_

 _Dan sighs. "I screwed up. I need someone trustworthy to help me correct this, but the people in my year... yeah not gonna cut it."_

 _"I'll help if I can. What's wrong?"_

 _"You see..."_

* * *

"Rise and shine! The time is now 7am, meaning nighttime is officially over! You have almost two and a half days until your deadline so keep on building trust! Seize the moment! Enjoy your youths!"

I awake to the announcement. Again, I had another strange dream. I quickly rush to my journal to document it. I write about it on a new page, right after the notes I made about yesterday. As I finish, I look at the envelopes I placed inside the journal. My conversation with Sakuya yesterday made me think. I need to find people I can trust here. While Kyo is mysterious, I feel like in order to build up trust with him, I would need to speak to him about the secrets. It would also provide a bit of comfort if I could confirm my theory about his secret. I think about all this as I prepare myself for the day.

As I'm deep in thought, I hear a loud knock on my door. It sounds urgent. I do my best to quickly finish changing and rush to the door. Standing on the other side was Naoki, who appears to be in a panic.

"Naoki? What's up?" I ask, concerned.

"Hayato! Dude, this is big!" he cries to me, in a big panic. "She... I mean they... No I mean-"

"Naoki, calm down." I tell him, hoping to find out what's going on. "What's going on?!"

"Kiyomi's gone crazy!" Noaki blurts out. "She's attacking people in the dining room!"

"What?!" I instinctively shout. Without hesitation, I rush out of my room towards the dining room. Noaki follows close behind, almost cowering.

* * *

As we approached the dining room (with Naoki cowering behind me), we heard what sounded like a scream of pain coming from a female voice.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

"ONEE-CHAN! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"BITCH, I WILL KILL BOTH YOU **AND** YOUR SISTER!"

I rushed into the room to find Kiyomi, Sakuya and Karen. Sakuya was leaning against the table with a fork stabbed into her left hand. Karen was naturally next to her sister, trying to help her by removing the fork. Kiyomi stood opposite them at the table holding a sharp knife. She had an dark look on her face.

"I know all about what you spoke to Hayato-Darling about yesterday, and what you tried to do to him." Kiyomi stated. "You tried to fucking seduce him and try to ruin our relationship. So as punishment, I will kill both you and your sister."

"If you want to kill me, that's one thing. But don't you dare do a thing to my sister!" Sakuya screamed, holding onto her left hand in pain.

"Oh, is that so? I'd like to see you try to stop me." Kiyomi taunted, approaching the two sisters slowly.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" I ask with a shout, concerned by what I'm witnessing.

"Hayachii, run!" Sakuya warns me. "This bitch is crazy."

"Hayato-Darling... Don't worry about this." Kiyomi speaks to me, without making eye contact. While the words were meant to be reassuring, the tone of her voice definitely wasn't.

"She just attacked us out of the blue." Sakuya explains, finally getting the fork out of her hand. "I'm not even sure why."

"Oh I'm sure..." Kiyomi begins to speak, but uses the distraction caused by my appearance to slip behind Sakuya and hold a knife to her neck from behind. " **YOU KNOW FULL WELL WHAT YOU DID**!" She then kicks Karen away from them, knocking her onto the ground.

As I'm standing in the room, cautious about my next move, more people begin to enter the room. Yosuke and Kou. The two freeze on arrival.

"I heard something once I left my room what the hell is going on?!" Yosuke shouts, concerned by what he's witnessing.

"It appears someone has cracked?" Kou responds, strangely calm. "I told you we should have done something to leave already."

We all stand by the entrance, wondering how we should resolve this (except Naoki, who's cowering behind us). We hear a familiar laugh.

"Upupupupu... What a good show!" Monokuma laughs, eating a bag of popcorn. "Anyone else want any?"

Yosuke turns to face the bear. "You! Is this really acceptable?!"

Monokuma puts away the popcorn and sighs. "Sort of. I mean, if she kills them right here and now, I'll have no choice but to punish her. I mean, you need to get away with murder. Can't get away with it with so many witnesses."

"And by 'punish' you mean..." I ask, concerned.

"We'll cross that boat when it gets to it." Monokuma shares. "But yeah. Kiyomi, just put the knife down. Killing them now won't help you with anything."

Kiyomi stares back at us, hatred in her eyes. She then sighs and drops the knife. Sakuya drops to the ground, holding onto her neck, breathing heavily. Karen quickly rushes to her side, tears in her eyes. Yosuke and Kou both rush towards Kiyomi, with Kou grabbing the knife and Yosuke pinning her down. I rush to Sakuya's side to check up on her. Blood is leaking from the stab wounds in her hand, and there's a slight cut on her neck due to the placement of the knife.

Monokuma sighs. "Can't be helped. Sakuya should come with me. I'll bring her to the infirmary and get her patched up. Her sister can come too if she wants. I'll leave you guys to deal with the crazy one."

As Monokuma leaves the room with Sakuya and Karen, I'm left in the room with Yosuke, Kou, Naoki and Kiyomi. As we remain in silence for a brief few moments, Michiru and Serena enter the room.

"What the hell is going on here?" Michiru asks, looking around.

I take a look around too. Yosuke pinning Kiyomi to the ground. Kou holding a knife with slight blood marks. Yeah, this would look wrong in any situation.

"Clearly something they didn't want anyone to see." Serena comments with a smile and a nosebleed.

"It's not what you think!" I reassure them. "Kiyomi went crazy and-"

"She almost killed Sakuya." Kou finishes my sentence.

"That's not true!" Kiyomi protests, pissed off. "I also tried to kill her sister too!"

Naoki looks surprised. "Michiru-sama. Did you not hear? There was a lot of shouting going on..."

Michiru and Serena are both confused.

"Shouting?" Michiru asks, confused. "I heard nothing until I got here."

"Yeah, same here..." Serena adds.

"Now that you mention it..." Kou begins to recall. "I heard nothing until leaving my room."

Yosuke nods. "Same with me."

"Oh, that's 'cause the rooms are soundproof." Monokuma shares, suddenly popping up. "If you're inside, you can't hear outside, and vise-versa."

"Whoa!" Naoki exclaims. "That's so cool! And oddly terrifying..."

"Monokuma!" I call out, ignoring everything else. "How's Sakuya?"

"Upupu... She's just resting at the moment." the bear reassures me. "She's not gonna die from that, if that's what you're asking."

I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good thing too." Monokuma laughs. "Because having two people die today would suck."

We all remain in silence upon hearing this.

"I'm sorry but... what?" Kou asks, concerned. "What do you mean by two people dying today?"

"Ah crap." Monokuma realises what he said. "Guess I can't hide it now. If Sakuya died from those injuries, then Kiyomi, the person who killed her, would be executed. Makes sense, really. Can't get away with murder if you have too many witnesses."

"Seriously..." Kiyomi mutters, calming down slightly. "What if I just killed all the witnesses?"

Monokuma thinks. He then takes out a tablet and writes a few things down. All of our tablets simultaneously beep.

 **Rule 11 - Any one blackened is not permitted to kill more than two people.**

"Because it says in the rules you can't." Monokuma explains.

"Did you just add that?" I ask, putting away my tablet.

"Upupupu... Yeah." Monokuma laughs this off. "But we can't have someone getting away with it because you're all dead though, right? Anyway, that's all for now."

Monokuma disappears as suddenly as he arrived.

Michiru is the first to speak up. "I guess moving on to more pressing matters... Why was Kiyomi acting that way?"

We all turn to face Kiyomi, who's still being pinned down by Yosuke. I'm also curious as to why she did what she did.

Kiyomi smiles in an eerie way. "Because she's a danger to my relationship with my darling Hayato."

Everyone - including myself - stare in confusion.

Michiru turns to me. "What kind of relationship do you have?"

"We don't." I swiftly respond. "We knew of each other before coming here, but she's for some reason obsessed with me."

"THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER!" Kiyomi cries out attempting to break free. "NOBODY ELSE WOULD GO TO THE LENGTHS I WOULD TO BE WITH YOU!"

Everyone is clearly disturbed.

"Uh..." Naoki is clearly speechless, like everyone else. "So... what should we do with her?"

"I'd say we lock her up." Michiru suggests. "She's a danger to everyone."

"Maybe this was a one off outburst?" Serena steps in, attempting to voice reason. "What if someone keeps an eye on her to ensure he behaves?"

Kou shakes his head. "And who do you suppose does that? We certainly can't keep her near Hayato, that's for sure."

"Agreed." I quickly agree with Kou's point.

"I'll keep an eye on her." Serena volunteers. "And if all else fails, then we can try Michii's idea."

"I told you not to call me that..." Michiru mutters, embarrassed.

Yosuke sighs. "I'm okay with that plan if everyone else is."

Ultimately, those of us present all agree to that plan. Yosuke releases Kiyomi from his grip and Serena guides her out of the room.

* * *

Following this morning's incident, the rest of the morning went off with little happening. During the mid-afternoon, I headed over to Kyo's room to speak to him about the secrets, however I had no response when I knocked. With nothing else to do, I simply headed down to the living room to chill.

As I arrived in the living room, I noticed Lucas sitting there reading a book. Ayumi, Mamoru and Akio were also there playing a card game. Right as I entered the room, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see who it is and am greeted by Yuki.

"Hayato, hey!" she greets me. "Could you come with me for a moment? I want your advice on something."

Without giving me a chance to respond, she drags me away from the living room and up the stairs towards... my room? Or rather outside my room. Yu was also there, waiting by the wall.

"So you brought Mr Hare to help?" he asked, confused. "I thought you were bringing Mr Kyo."

"I couldn't find him." Yuki casually responded. "So Hayato. Does anything look off about this wall to you?"

The wall? I take a closer look at it, but I don't notice anything strange about it. "No. Should it?"

"I'm not sure." Yuki replies, pressing the side of her head against the wall. She gives it a quick knock. "But the wall feels hollow here. Almost like there's another room hidden behind here."

"We were hoping to receive Mr Kyo's opinion about it." Yu explains. "With him being the Ultimate Observer, we thought he might be able to figure out how we could get beyond it."

I guess they can't find Kyo either. I wonder where he went... Something about this feels off however. "Wait. How did you realise something was off about this wall?"

Yu sighed. "She's been studying the walls of the building since we got here."

"I'm just saying, what if there's a hidden room here somewhere?" Yuki explains, acting as if it's nothing. "It would be the perfect thing to expose as a Mansion Secret!"

I guess that's true. "Well, if you find anything out, let me know. I'm gonna go outside for a walk for a bit."

"Sure. See ya later." Yuki responds, still studying the wall.

"Sorry for bothering you." Yu apologises to me. "I'll make sure she doesn't go too crazy with her research."

* * *

I stand outside the Mansion and look around. In terms of people, the area is pretty empty. I notice Karen sitting alone by the gazebo, so decide to approach her.

"Hey." I calmly greet her. "Is everything okay?"

"Ah..." she nervously responds, shocked by my sudden appearance. "Yeah... Onee-chan is doing okay. She's resting in her room now."

"That's a relief to hear." I reply, taking a seat. "How are you doing?"

Karen slowly nods, not making eye contact with me. "Good. Um... Th-thank you!" She quickly stands and bows to me. "Thank you for your h-help earlier..."

I shake my head. "I didn't really do much. It's kind of my fault it happened, anyway."

Karen lifts her head. "I-it's not! K-Kiyomi is to blame f-for her own actions. N-not you!"

I stand and place my hand on Karen's head. "I guess that's true. But I still didn't do much to help."

"You were worried about Onee-chan." Karen explains. "Onee-chan doesn't have a lot of friends because she always worries too much about me. So... thank you for that."

I'm not really sure how to respond, so I just smile. "Uh... No problem."

"And... uh... um..." Karen speaks again, but stumbles on her words. "O-Onii-san! Can... can you help me become stronger? Like you...?"

"Eh?" I'm not sure how to respond to that. And calling me 'Onii-san' so suddenly...

"I'm a shy person..." Karen shares. "I'm not much of a social person... and I always rely on Onee-chan... I don't want to be a burden on her anymore... I want to protect her, like she always protects me..."

I smile upon hearing this. "How can I say no to that? But even still..." I think for a moment. "This isn't something I can just teach to you. I can maybe give you some advice, but you'll need to do a lot of the effort on your own."

Karen swiftly nods. "That's fine. Anything you can do to help will be good."

I think again briefly. "Okay, how about we meet up again at about 6? I can think of a few things to do by then, then you can practice what you learned at dinner with everyone."

Karen nods with a smile. "Yeah! Thank you, Onii-san! I'm going to go check on Onee-chan now. See you later!"

Karen runs off with a smile. Maybe I was imagining things, but she already seems to be a little more confident after our conversation. As I watch Karen go back into the Mansion, I notice some people leaving the tool shed. They're... Serena and Kiyomi? Serena, who is in a good mood, is dragging Kiyomi out of the shed. Kiyomi appears to be drained of energy. What... What happened in there?

After chilling outside for a while - with nothing eventful happening - I decide to head back inside.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **A/N:** Writing this chapter I remembered how tough it is to develop these characters early on. Expect the bulk of character development to come after Chapter 1, because it gives time for everything to set in. Chapter 1 will be short in comparison to later chapters (at least I predict it will be).


	5. Chapter 1 - Dark Secrets - Act 3

**Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall (Daily Life) - Act 3**

I stood in the living room facing Karen. We had been going over potential conversation topics for about an hour.

"Which is why we can never be friends. You're too weird." I said, giving an example of a response someone may give.

"Onii-san, this is a little weird." Karen timidly admitted. "Many of these conversations don't make sense."

"Be prepared for any conversation." I reminded her.

"I get that, but why did some of them start off rudely?" she asked.

"You never know when someone with a bad personality will talk to you." I replied.

"But nobody is like that, though, right?" Karen asked, wondering if someone like that existed.

"Hello there, peasants!" Michiru called out, entering the room as if on cue.

I faced Karen. "There's her for starters..."

"True... She can be foul mouthed." Karen agreed.

"Hey. Don't talk about me as if I'm not here..." Michiru complained, figuring out what we were talking about.

* * *

Karen and I continued going over conversation topics until evening. It appeared that she was becoming more confident the more we practised. When we were done, we retired back to our own rooms.

While lying down on my bed, I recalled what I saw with Kiyomi and Serena earlier. I was curious by what was going on, so maybe I'll ask Serena about it tomorrow. At the very least, it was a relief to not have to worry about Kiyomi causing any more trouble throughout the day. I know she probably would have freaked out if she saw me and Karen together today.

With not much left to do, I decided to go to sleep early.

* * *

 _I found myself once again sitting in a dark classroom. The voices of other students badmouthing me continued. I ignored them, like always. Some people in the school always do this. Not everyone, but enough for it to get on your nerves. But this isolation from the others... is caused by my own classmates talking bad about me._

 _As I prepare to leave, I hear someone speak up._

 _"Hey! Why don't you all just shut up!" a feminine voice calls out._

 _I turn to face them as the room brightens up. A girl with pink hair wearing a maid uniform stands there._

 _"You're all just insulting his talent without even bothering to get to know him first!" she scolds them._

 _"Whatever. I just don't get why that's considered a talent." replies another girl, this one with long blonde hair in pigtails._

 _"What's your talent again?" the pink haired girl asks. "Being popular? Are you really one to talk?"_

 _"Hey! Don't you dare talk about Hino-sama like that!" a boy with black hair screams back._

 _As I stand there watching, I feel awkward. I consider leaving. As I'm stood by the door, a familiar boy approaches me. It's Dan._

 _"Are you really going to leave while she's defending you?" he asks. "You could help her out."_

 _"What's the point? It'll only make things worse." I question._

 _"This really is the best chance to change things for the better."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Do you remember my request of you the other day? Put you're new knowledge to the test. Or not. Things will only get better if you try."_

 _"But what if they're right? I shouldn't even be here."_

 _"Everybody who enters this academy enters for a reason. You just need to find yours."_

 _I think about these words for a moment, before turning around. I'm not sure what I'm doing, but I'll know when I get there._

 _"Hey!" I call out to the group, determined._

 _"What, Mr Useless Talent?" the girl with pigtails asks, annoyed._

 _"Again, stop with that!" the pink haired girl scolds her again._

 _I face the pink haired girl and smile. "Thanks for your help, I can handle it from here."_

 _I face the other students. The girl with big tails and the boy with black hair are both from my class. Two other students stand there with them. They look familiar, and I'm pretty sure they're also in this class, but I don't think I've ever spoken to them._

 _"If you really have a problem with me, then you really should say it to my face." I tell them._

 _"Oh? Am I not being loud enough from the distance?" the girl comments rudely._

 _"No, you're being plenty loud." I calmly respond. "I just want to put all of this behind us."_

 _"What are you...?" the girl questions me._

 _"I don't know if there's any real reason behind your behaviour towards me, but I'd like it if we could just be friends instead."_

 _I keep saying random things, in hopes of making the situation better. Strangely enough, it eventually works. The girl calms down, and the other students apologise and leave. They admit that they don't really hate me, but were simply following the other girl's lead. I didn't learn what the girl had against me, but she seems to have calmed down at least._

 _"All right. I'll back off for now." she comments, walking off._

 _"If you ever need anyone to talk to, just let me know!" I call out to her._

 _The pink haired girl walks in front of me._

 _"And here I thought you were never going to stand up for yourself." she comments._

 _"Someone finally gave me the motivation to do something." I replied, smiling._

 _She smiles back. "Well it's good either way. Anyway, I don't think we've ever spoken before."_

 _I think back. We haven't spoken. "No, I don't think we have. I'm Hayato Hare."_

 _She smiles again. "Nice to meet you, Hayato. I'm-"_

* * *

"The time is now 7am, meaning nighttime is officially over! One day and fourteen hours remain. Can you all make the deadline? I know some of you aren't even close. Of course, the alternative is there... Upupupupupupu..."

Once again woken up at the crucial moments of the strange dream. I repeat my morning routine of writing down notes of the dream on the page following yesterday's notes, then begin to prepare for the day. As I stand in the shower, I recall the motive we were provided. What could be Monokuma's reason for this? And on that note, is he serious about if we fail? As I think this, I recall how I still need to tell another person my secret, and recall my attempts to find Kyo. Maybe I won't get the chance to speak to him? At the very least, I can tell more people is necessary, so maybe I should just find someone at random to share my secret with for now, then go from there later.

I finish getting ready and head out of my room. As I open the door, I find Serena standing there, about to knock.

"Oh. You're still here." she greets me. "Morning."

"Morning." I respond. "Is everything okay?"

An awkward expression spawns over her face. "Uh... We've got an issue."

I can assume what this is about. "Did Kiyomi not respond well to what you did?"

Serena sighs. "I kind of took things too far, yeah. She's... on another rampage."

I sigh too. "Lead the way."

* * *

Serena leads me to the top floor. Standing next to the stairs were Kiyomi and Lucas. They were both in a heated argument.

"By all means. Try to throw me off the balcony." Lucas encouraged. "I'll just dodge. You'll end up falling to your death. It will count as a suicide and everything will continue as it was, except you won't be around."

"But if I fall that will be your fault and will give you the perfect chance to escape!" Kiyomi argued. "And I refuse to give you the chance to leave!"

"You refuse die and refuse to kill me? What was the purpose of calling me up here then?" Lucas questioned.

"Because you're hiding something!" Kiyomi screams. "And if that hurts my Hayato-Darling then I'll need to protect him."

Lucas sighs. "We are _all_ hiding something. Did you not get the memo? What makes my secret worse? Do you even _know_ my secret?"

"Well... No, but... You've been acting weird!" Kiyomi attempts to counter. "You're always alone! Why is that?"

"Because I'm an introvert." Lucas calmly responds. "I'm not good around people, so I try to stay alone where possible."

This is clearly a one-sided fight, which Kiyomi is clearly losing - and the only person wishing to keep it going. I decide to step in.

"What's going on here?" I ask, concerned.

"She's overreacting. That's what." Lucas explains. "She called me here just to pick a fight."

"Gah! Hayato Darling! Don't look at me!" Kiyomi cries, not listening to anything, hiding her face behind her hands. "I'm no longer pure!"

While Kiyomi is mid outburst, Lucas shakes his head and leaves. He mutters something about wanting peace and quiet, but I can't hear him over Kiyomi's cries.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I ask, confused. "And why did you pick a fight with Lucas?"

Kiyomi simply cries and points at Serena. Serena simply avoids eye contact and begins whistling.

"What did you do?" I ask, hoping this isn't connected to yesterday's events in the tool shed.

Serena awkwardly laughs. "I'll... explain later. For now, I should bring Kiyomi elsewhere."

* * *

I stay in the living room for most of the day. Karen is with me, so we keep discussing ways for her to improve her social skills. We're able to make great progress, with Karen feeling much more confident all before noon. When we're finished, we sit and relax for a bit.

"If you don't mind my asking, Karen... Why did you ask me for help?" I ask, curious.

Karen blushes slightly. "I think you're an admirable person, Onii-san. You're staying positive in all this, and trying to get along with everyone."

"I wouldn't say all that applies to me." I confess. "I'm pretty scared, all things considered. And isn't it only natural to try to get along with others?"

Karen smiles. "And yet not everyone is trying... You seemed like the only person I could count on to help me with this. Now I think I should have the confidence to... Oh. Uh... Sorry, forget I said anything... Thanks again, Onii-chan. I'm gonna go check on Onee-chan!"

On a rather odd note, Karen rushes off to see her sister. Deciding to go do something myself, I get up and leave the room, only to run into Serena on the way.

"Ah, there you are!" Serena appears relieved to see me. "I wanted to talk to you about earlier. Can we go somewhere more private?"

* * *

Serena and I sit in my room. She appears to want to say something, but is too nervous to do so. We remain in silence for a minute or so until she finally speaks up.

"I, uh... Guess this would be the easiest way to explain." she finally breaks the silence, taking out an envelope.

"Your secret?" I voice my assumption. "Is this related to-"

"I'm a sexual deviant." Serena swiftly interrupts. "Sex is always on my mind. I like to get freaky too..."

She shows me the photos as she says this. They all showcase her engaged in some kind of sexual act - most solo - in bizarre ways.

Serena sighs. "I took Kiyomi into the tool shed outside yesterday for... yeah. I thought it could make her forget about you, so... I just made things worse. Sorry."

I remain speechless. I'm honestly not sure how to respond to news like this. But since she shared her secret with me, I guess...

"I plagiarised some of my theories from my blog." I share with her, showing the photos relating to my secret. "You shared yours, so I'll share mine."

Serena is taken aback my my response. "You're... not going to judge me?" She says this as she studies the photos. "Oh, at least you're an honest person..."

"It's certainly... unique news. But it's not my place to judge." I explain. "So you enjoy doing that. It doesn't bother me. As long as everything you do is legal, that is..."

"It is! I'm not _that_ much of a freak." Serena quickly confirms. "And besides, if everyone's not into it then what's the point...?" We remain in silence briefly, before Serena speaks again. "Hey, so... Crazy idea... Would you be up for-"

"Seriously?" I interrupt her, knowing what she was going to say.

"Oh come on. Please?" Serena is quick to attempt to convince me. "What if I get another girl in too?"

"Why is this so important for you?" I ask, curious. "And besides, I'm just an average guy."

Serena shakes her head. "No, you are _definitely_ both of our types. We can go all night long... Of course, we'll keep thing vanilla..." She begins to drool as she begins to mutter things to herself.

"I'll have to decline your offer." I respond swiftly. "But if I change my mind, I'll let you know."

Serena wipes the drool off her face. "I'll accept that!"

Serena jumps back to her feet and prepares to leave. As she gets to the door, she freezes and turns to face me. "Hey, so... Crazy idea... What if I got more girls involved?"

I shake my head in my palms, and sigh. "Please just leave already..."

* * *

As I arrive in the dining room to sort out dinner for myself, I notice a group of people already gathered. Yosuke, Kou, Lucas, Naoki, Yu, Yuki, Michiru, Ayumi and Nagisa are all gathered (although Nagisa is asleep at the table).

Yosuke is the first to notice my arrival. "Ah, Hayato. Perfect timing. We have an issue."

"Oh? What's up?" I ask, curious.

"It appears we've lost track of both Kyo and Kiyomi." Kou shares. "Kyo has been absent since yesterday, while Kiyomi since this morning."

"Kiyomi's absence wouldn't be a cause for concern but..." Yosuke explains. "With her recent outbursts, I'm just concerned she'll do something wrong..."

Naoki is clearly nervous. "W-well it's not like I'd know anything about it! Right, Michiru-sama? Lucas?"

Michiru responds to this by hitting him with her elbow. Lucas simply shakes his head in him palm.

Yosuke and Kou both decide to confront them about this. "What did you do?" They ask in unison.

* * *

The three lead us to the gym, where we find Kiyomi - tied up against some equipment. Her legs were tied up, with her arms tied up against some equipment.

"Hayato-Darling!" she greets me as if nothing had happened. "Be a babe and untie me, will you?"

"Explain." Kou states, looking at Naoki.

Lucas steps forward. "It was my idea. She was causing too much trouble so I suggested this. I had Naoki carry out all the hard work."

Michiru also steps forward. "Serena told me that Kiyomi was out of her control, so I was the one to seek out his advice in the matter."

"It's... better than leaving her alone." Naoki admits, nervous.

"That's... one mystery solved." Ayumi comments. "What about Kyo?"

As everyone begins talking, questioning this, I decide to speak up.

"Maybe we should look for him tomorrow." I suggest. "He _did_ suggest a meeting tomorrow morning, so maybe he's just doing his own thing. If he's not there tomorrow, _then_ we'll have a cause for concern."

"Yeah, that makes sense..." Yuki comments. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's doing his own little investigation or something..."

Yosuke sighs. "I guess. All right. The meeting is tomorrow at 8am. All of us shall be there - with the exception of Kiyomi."

As this concludes, we all part ways. As we do so, I'm approached by Naoki.

"Hey man!" he says to me. "I was gonna grab a bath after dinner, if you're up for joining me?"

"That's... uh... An odd request." I reply honestly.

"Hey, don't be like that. It will just be a couple of guys bonding over a bath. Nothing weird." Naoki explains. "That, and... It's such a big bath, that I'd feel awkward to go alone..."

I sigh and chuckle at this. "Sure, why not. I'm curious about the bath too."

"Great!" he cheers. "This will be so good..."

* * *

It had gotten somewhat late, being almost 9, but Naoki and I headed into the bath. I've not used a large bath like this before, but I must admit it has a relaxing tone. It's probably one of few places here I can feel comfortable being. While I was relaxing, Naoki appeared to be on edge.

"Almost nine... So it should be..." he mutters to himself, as if recalling something.

"Everything okay?" I ask, concerned. "You keep talking to yourself?"

"Oh, uh... Yeah. All is good." Naoki nervously replies. "Just, uh... thinking that we almost have 24 hours of that deadline thing left! Yeah... That'll do as an excuse..."

Was he not aware he said that last part aloud? But it is true that we're only a day away from the deadline... I wonder if everyone will make it, or... if the alternative will occur. As I'm lost in thought, I begin to hear talking from the changing room. The voices sound... feminine. Did they not see the sign that the bath is in use? Before I can process these thoughts, people begin to enter the room. Sakuya, Michiru, Kaede and Yuki all enter, all wearing only a towel. When they notice our presence, an awkward silence fills the air.

"Gah!" Yuki is the first to cry out. "The hell you guys doing?!"

"T-taking a bath!" I respond in a panic. "Did you not see the sign saying it's in use?"

"Th-there was no sign up when we got here!" Kaede swiftly adds, quickly looking away.

"It was most definitely not there!" Michiru adds, with a red face. "Did you intentionally leave it down to trick us?!"

"What are you talking about?!" I ask, confused. I look at Naoki. "You definitely put it up, right?"

Naoki has a happy expression on his face. "Hm... Maybe I just plain forgot."

Yuki, Kaede, Michiru and myself all glare daggers at him.

His expression swiftly changes to a panicked one. "Gah! I mean... No I definitely put it up! It must have fallen down? Yeah, they'll buy that..."

Again, is he aware of what he's saying? At this rate, things can only get worse... I look over at Sakuya, who has remained surprisingly calm during all this. We make eye contact, and I attempt to signal to her to try and calm things down. When she realises this, she gives a thumbs up and smiles. She understood my signal.

"There's only one thing to do." Sakuya speaks up. "No one is to blame in this situation, so we should just all take a bath together."

She **did not** understand my signal.

With panic still engulfing the room (with a lot of yelling directed mostly at Naoki), another person enters the room. It was Serena.

"Oh, you're all early." she comments, noticing all of our presences. "You didn't bring more people?"

Sakuya shakes her head. "Karen said she was busy. I couldn't get in contact with Ayuchii or Nagisa."

"I wasn't talking to you." Serena explains, pushing the girls aside. She looks directly at Naoki. "You didn't bring more people?"

"I'm sorry! I panicked!" Naoki cries out. "Plus this didn't go as you said it would!"

The glares shift to Serena. Michiru is the first to speak up this time.

"This was _your_ doing?!" she yells, annoyed. "When I suggested we all take a bath, that invitation did _not_ include the guys!"

"I thought it would be more fun this way..." Serena responds, blushing and drooling.

Silence fills the room again. I speak up this time. "Naoki and I have been in here long enough anyway. We should get out now and let you girls enjoy the bath."

"Really...?" both Naoki and Serena reply in disappointment. The other girls seem content with this decision.

Silence fills the room again as we awkwardly remain motionless.

"Are you not going to leave?" Michiru asks, confused by the lack of movement.

"Are you not going to look away?" I respond, slightly embarrassed.

The faces of all the girls (except Serena) turn slightly red as they all look away. Michiru then forces Serena to look away too.

* * *

"I can't believe you ruined our chances like that..." Naoki speaks to me, disappointed.

The two of us finished changing and were walking out of the changing rooms. It was now about twenty past nine, so we were heading back to our rooms.

"I can't believe you did something so stupid." I firmly respond.

Naoki looks at me in confusion. "Seriously? I'm all about stupid things..."

As we walk back to our rooms, talking about what just happened, we bump into Ayumi.

"Ah... Demora..." she comments, upon seeing me. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something..."

"Ayumi? I'm surprised you're not in the bath with the others actually." I speak up, surprised by her appearance.

Ayumi shakes her head. "Oh no, I- Wait. How do you know about that?"

You can see the beads of sweat dropping down Naoki's face as he attempts to speak.

"This guy and Serena plotted something dumb." I respond with as little information as possible.

Ayumi nods in understanding. "That makes sense."

"And this is where I leave!" Naoki speaks up, walking off on his own. "Later guys!"

After Naoki's departure, and awkward silence surrounds Ayumi and I.

"It's about the other day..." Ayumi speaks, nervous. "I'm sorry for how I reacted!" Ayumi swiftly says to me with a bow.

I'm somewhat taken aback by this response, not entirely sure on how to respond.

"I was too embarrassed to speak with you after that..." Ayumi explains. "So I've actually been avoiding you until now... But I'm sorry!"

"There's no need to apologise." I tell her. "I think your reaction the other day was a perfectly normal one."

Ayumi lifts her head and gently smiles. "Of course you'd react like that... You're too nice."

"You think?" I ask, not sure how to respond.

Ayumi chuckles. "I was worried over nothing. You're a good friend, Demora."

"Think you can maybe stop calling me that?" I ask, somewhat embarrassed.

Ayumi shakes her head. "Not a chance."

* * *

"Upupupu... The time is now 10pm, making it officially nighttime! The dining room will be locked as will the front door. So whoever's out there should get back in pronto! Ahem. The deadline is less than 24 hours away. Which choices will be made? I guess we'll find out... G'Night!"

I just finished recapping the day's events in my journal when the announcement played. After Ayumi apologised to me, we spent about fifteen minutes simply talking about random things until we decided to head back to our rooms. It seems that Ayumi has told enough people her secret to keep her safe. I wonder how many people did share their secret? Maybe some are even waiting until the last moment in case... I shudder at the thought.

Remembering that we're to have a group meeting in the morning, I decide to head to sleep, praying that we can all survive the deadline. Although... I do have a bad feeling about something. I shake it off and head to bed.

* * *

 _I stand in a dark room once again. Dan Honda is facing me._

 _"You screwed up."_

 _That's all he says. The words repeat in my mind as I watch him turn his back on me and walk away. What did I do wrong? Did... I fail the task he had for me? How badly did I screw up? The words fill my mind until I collapse from exhaustion. I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to face the person responsible. It's the girl from earlier. The one who stood up for me from my class. She reaches a hand out to me._

 _"I'm still here for you."_

 _She reassures this to me and I return to my feet._

 _"And I'm all you have left."_

* * *

I awake in a cold sweat. Was that a nightmare? I'm not sure... As always, I write a recap of the dream down in my journal on a new page. I re-read the dreams from my time in the mansion. Dan Honda. Who is this person, and why is he in all my dreams? I sigh and sit back. There's something bug going on here. Tonight, once we're done with the deadline, I'm going to sit back and have a good long think about all of this. What are these dreams trying to tell me? I hear a ringing noise as I'm lost in thought, which snaps me back to reality.

"Gooooooood-morning! It's 7am, meaning nighttime is officially over! Rise and shine! 14 hours remain! Some of you need to get a move on with sharing! Or do you... Upupupupupu!"

With the reality of today setting in, I head into the shower before meeting up with everyone.

* * *

I arrive in the dining room at about 7:30. It appears some people are already here. For starters, Kyo has finally returned, sitting quietly in the corner of the room. At the table, Sakuya, Naoki and Serena are already eating breakfast. It appears some sort of feast has been prepared. Kou enters the room with a tray of food of all variety. Yosuke and Yuki assist in bringing in the food.

"Morning." I greet everyone. "We having a feast or something?"

"Since we're having our meeting today, we can't go on with an empty stomach." Kou shares. "And I didn't exactly trust everyone to prepare a meal without me, so I got here as soon as the doors opened to start cooking."

"Kyo and I helped." Yuki adds, placing some food onto the table.

Sakuya, Naoki and Serena quickly help themselves to some more food.

"Man, this meat is delicious!" Sakuya compliments the food, taking a bite out of what looks to be some bacon. "What did you say it was again?"

"Pork." Kou responds. "You can tell by the fact it looks exactly like bacon. Have you ever cooked before in your life?"

"Nah, Karen's the cook in the family." Sakuya brags. "I'm just the taste tester. This needs salt..."

"I don't think there was any salt in the kitchen..." Yuki comments, looking around.

"Shouldn't there be some in the storage room?" Naoki suggests. "Come on, Hayato. Help me look."

Reluctantly, I agree to help Naoki look for some salt.

* * *

The two of us arrive in the storage room and begin searching for the salt.

"I saw some here the other day..." Naoki tells me. "That bear keeps everything stored in here. That in mind... You smell that?"

I notice a strong smell as Naoki says this. It smells like... blood? No, I'm probably imagining things. It's probably just some of the stored food that's kept in here. Although I _am_ curious as to what it is...

As I look around, I find a stack of boxes, with the strong smell coming from behind it. Although I'm nervous as to what I may find behind them, I tough it out and move them out of the way to see what's behind. And what I am greeted with is not a pretty sight.

The smell that I thought was blood... I most definitely _was_ blood. A corpse lays propped up against the boxes, sitting in a puddle of their own blood. The victim's shirt had been ripped open. Flesh had been cut from their thighs, arms and breast. Hair had been pulled from their head. One hand was even missing a finger. Looking at their face, it appears their left eye had been pulled out. Blood was also dripping from their mouth. The first life had been taken. The victim was the timid Karen Minakami.

 **Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall ( _Deadly_ Life) - Act 3**

"Hey, is everything okay?" Naoki asks me, walking over. He stops in his tracks as he notices what I'm staring at. "Holy sh-"

 **DING-DONG-DING**

"Upupupupu! Oh my! Looks like you guys don't need to share those secrets tonight, because... a dead body has been discovered! Everyone who is able to, please gather in the storage room on the ground floor, where I shall explain what we shall do next."

Monokuma makes an announcement to us. I turn around, to see Yosuke standing near the back of the room, in shock. It appears he also noticed the body.

"Jesus..." He says to us, walking over. "Somebody actually did it? Fuck..."

We all stand in shock at the sight of one of our own, actually being dead. I quickly realise something. Someone who is not going to respond well to seeing this. I turn around to see the group from the dining room all enter at once. Joining them are Ayumi, Mamoru, Kaede, Yu and Akio. Chatter among them is heard. Sakuya is the first to notice where we are and comes running over.

"Sakuya, no!" I call out to her, not wanting her to see this. "Don't look!"

"What are you talking about Hayachii?" she asks. "Is that talk about a dead body really-"

Her words stop in an instant once she sees the corpse of her sister. Sakuya simply remains motionless, staring at the sight in front of her with fear in her eyes. The others have all noticed the body too, and are reacting in their own way, but Sakuya... She just stares. Life is drained from her eyes. Finally, she speaks up.

"What... What's happening?" she asks, with fear very clearly present in her voice. She walks over to Karen and gently nudges her. "Karen... This is no time to be resting... Karen..." Tears begin to swell up in her eyes. The reality is finally setting in. Karen Minakami, Sakuya's sister, is dead. Sakuya bursts into tears. As if on cue, Monokuma shows up.

"Still waiting for some people?" Monokuma speaks up. "All right. We'll have to wait."

"YOU FUCKER!" Sakuya jumps to her feet and charges at Monokuma. "YOU DID THIS!"

Monokuma makes no attempt at dodging. Instead, Sakuya just collapses and continues crying.

"I didn't do this." Monokuma explains. "One of you did. I'll explain further once the other four get here."

I look around. Absent are... Michiru, Lucas, Kiyomi and Nagisa. Kiyomi is obviously still tied up. As for the others... As if on cue, Michiru comes charging into the room.

"We've got a big fucking problem guys!" she screams to us in a panic.

"We know..." Yosuke responds, trying to stay calm. "Karen is dead..."

Michiru's expression changes to scared. "Shit. Her too?"

Too? What. "Michiru... What do you mean 'too'?"

"Lucas and I..." Michiru explains. "We were going to bring Kiyomi to the meeting this morning. But... on our way we found... Nagisa... I'll show you..."

* * *

Michiru leads me up to the laundry room in a rush. Waiting for us is Lucas and...

 **DING-DONG-DING**

"Upupupupu... Another dead body has been discovered! Come all to the laundry room to witness the sight. And I'll explain things there now."

Hanging from the ceiling, from one of the laundry lines... Is the corpse of Nagisa Sakura. There's no noticeable wounds on her body. She died from hanging. Possibly even suicide? As I'm staring at the sight, the rest of the group follow quickly. The only person missing is Kiyomi.

Monokuma steps forward. "Kiyomi isn't here? Oh yeah. You guys locked her up. I'm only gonna explain this once, so bring her here someone!"

Naoki is the one who reluctantly agrees to bring Kiyomi here. With the group now gathered, Monokuma begins to speak again.

"Upupupu... Dead bodies dropping all around. That means you don't have to share your secrets! But it also means there's a killer among you... Possibly two... So we shall be holding a Mansion Trial to identify who the killer is! Who killed Karen Minakami? That will be your jobs to find out! If you can correctly expose the killer, then I'll execute them! But if you can't... I'll kill everyone else, and the culprit will be allowed their freedom! Any questions?"

I raise my hand. "You said we're investigating Karen's death. What about Nagisa?"

"Good question!" Monokuma replies. "Investigate if you want. If the killers are the same, then you've avenged them both. If the killers are different, however... Only the blackened responsible for Karen Minakami's death will be put on trial. You discovered her body first, after all. So that also means if someone killed poor old Nagisa, then all their effort is a waste, because they don't gain their freedom this time! Upupupu!"

"I don't think there's anything to investigate here." Kiyomi speaks up. "She clearly killed herself."

Lucas shakes his head. "It's useless to think about it too much. If it's Karen's death that matters here... The we need to put all of our effort into that."

Monokuma holds up a notebook. "On that note... The Monokuma files!"

He swiftly hands me the notebook. I decide to open it and look inside.

"Victim: Karen Minakami. Time of death is estimated to be about 9pm. The body was found hidden behind some boxes in the storage room. Cause of death is either blood loss or shock. Pieces of flesh from the victim's thighs, arms and breast have been removed. In addition, the index finger on their left hand and their left eye has been forcibly removed. Several strands of hair have also been pulled out, however this is most likely due to a struggle. Dried blood is coming out from the victim's mouth.

Victim: Nagisa Sakura. Time of death is estimated to be about midnight. The body was found hanging from the laundry line in the laundry room. No further injuries are present. Cause of death is strangulation."

I read all that aloud. The Monokuma File... It shares with us details about the deaths.

"Now that you know all that..." Monokuma speaks up. "Go and investigate! When I determine that a suitable amount of time has passed, then I will call you all to the trial grounds! Now go and do your things!"

Silence fills the room. One of us did this. And now we must expose them, or die ourselves.

Yosuke speaks up first. "I think... someone should remain with the bodies. It would be bad if someone altered the crime scene during our investigations."

Sakuya steps forward, having mostly dried her eyes. "I'll wait with my sister's body. It has to be me."

"I'll wait with you." Ayumi volunteers. "Safety in numbers after all."

Yosuke nods. "Two people is good. Not saying it was you, but... Leaving one person to guard the crime scene is always a bad idea."

"I'll wait with Nagisa's body." Lucas volunteers. "I have a few suspicions I want to identify. Michiru, would you mind assisting me with this?"

"Eh? Oh, sure... I guess..." Michiru reluctantly agrees.

With that decided, almost everyone leaves the room to begin their investigations. I remain in the laundry room with Lucas and Michiru. Nagisa's death may not be the one to investigate here, but... I also have my suspicions. But the reality here is... someone here is a murderer. And I _will_ expose them.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **A/N:** Two deaths, one trial. What will happen? Find out in the next exciting chapter! Yeah, I don't have much to say here. It won't be too similar to the original story. I promise!


	6. Chapter 1 - Dark Secrets - Act 4

**Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall (Deadly Life) - Act 4**

 **Investigation - Start**

' _Monokuma File #1' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Nagisa's death has nothing to do with this case, yet... I feel like it's worth investigating, at least a little bit. I approach the body and take a quick look at it. Sure enough, the Monokuma File is correct. There's no sign of any additional injuries aside from the markings around her neck, as caused by the laundry line she's hanging from. A knocked over stool rests near her lifeless body. The logical conclusion here is suicide. I make a quick note of these details in my journal. I also add a recap of the Monokuma file next to them too.

"Find anything weird?" Lucas asks me, watching from a distance.

I shake my head. "No matter how you look at it, it's a suicide. If it was a murder, there's no immediate clues to point to it."

Lucas sighs. "I guess so... I'm going to keep investigating this and make notes about it along the way. Don't trouble yourself with this. Focus on Karen's murder. I haven't seen the body, but I can only imagine how much worse it is..."

He's right. Nagisa's death is not what's on trial here. If we're able to come back to this later, then maybe, but... There's no guarantee.

 _'Nagisa's Death' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

I suppose I should go investigate Karen's body first. Although... I turn to face Lucas, who is speaking with Michiru about the case.

"Lucas. Could I ask you a question?" I ask, approaching him.

"Me? Sure. Go for it." he responds, somewhat confused.

"What were you doing at 9pm last night?" I ask, getting straight to the point.

"Eh?" Lucas is taken aback by this response. "I was reading a book under the gazebo outside. Why'd you ask?"

Michiru quickly figures out the purpose of the question. "Because that's when the Monokuma file says Karen died. He's asking for your alibi."

I nod. "If we can figure out who doesn't have a solid alibi for the time of death, we can find our culprit."

"I see..." Lucas responds calmly. "I guess that means my alibi isn't solid. I can't account for the time, but I _did_ run into Kyo outside last night. He may know the time better than I do, so if that's any help..."

"That might be..." I respond. "Thanks."

 _'Lucas's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

"Are you not asking Michiru the same question?" Lucas asks, curious.

I shake my head. "No, I already know her alibi."

"You do?" Michiru asks, surprised.

"The... uh... Bath incident." I tell her, remaining as brief as possible.

Michiru's face swiftly turns red. "Ah, right. I suppose you would know that..."

"The... Bath incident?" Lucas asks, curious.

I sigh. "Long story short, Naoki and Serena conspired something, so a group of the girls all entered the bath right as Naoki and I were there."

Lucas sighs. "I see. Of course they did. And this was at 9?"

"About." I respond, thinking back.

"So your alibi's are solid then..." Lucas comments.

Michiru shakes her head. "Not everyone. Sakuya, Kaede, Yuki and I all got there together, but Serena was late. I'm not doubting her but... her alibi is a bit shaky with just that knowledge..."

It's true. I guess I should speak to Serena and find out why she was late.

 _'The Bath Incident' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

I take quick look around. There's no evidence left here to investigate. I should move on.

* * *

On my way to the storage room to investigate Karen's body, I run into Serena wandering the hallway. Now would be a good time to ask her.

"Serena!" I call out to her, approaching her.

"Hm? Oh, Hayato. What's up?" she asks, noticing my presence.

"It's about last night with the bath incident." I once again get right to the point.

Serena sighs. "You also gonna give me more crap about that? I said I was sorry..."

"No. Not like that." I correct her. "It happened at around the time of Karen's death... But you were late. I'm not saying I suspect you, but-"

"You wanted to know why I was late?" Serena interrupts me to finish the question. "I was with Ayumi."

"Uh... Yeah. That's exactly what I wanted to know." I respond, taken aback slightly.

Serena chuckles. "I was expecting someone to ask. I was with Ayumi, trying to convince her to join with the bath. But she said she was busy. I went straight to the bath afterwards."

"Okay. So that gives you an almost solid alibi..." I mutter to myself.

 _'Serena's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

With no further questions, I bid farewell to Serena and continue with my investigation.

* * *

As I arrive in the storage room, I find Naoki standing near the entrance calling out directions. Ayumi and Sakuya are both standing near the body, confused (and upset, in Sakuya's case).

"What's the point of this?" Sakuya asks, trying to hold back tears.

"Just wait there..." Naoki responds, trying to look at the body. "No... I can't see it at all..."

"Naoki? What's going on?" I ask, confused.

"Oh, Hayato!" he greets me. "Perfect timing. Stand here for a second."

Naoki steps out of the way. I end up standing where he was. "Now what?"

"Can you see... ahem... Karen?" he asks, keeping the noise down for the last part.

I look forward, but I can't see her body. It's hidden behind the boxes slightly, but if Sakuya and Ayumi weren't standing there, I probably could see the body. I tell this to Naoki.

Naoki nods. "Isn't that weird? Sakuya and Ayumi are standing where we were. And you're standing where Yosuke was. Yet he could still see the body?"

Huh? Now that he mentions it... That is weird.

Naoki continues speaking. "I didn't think much of it at first. 'Oh, Monokuma made that announcement because two people found the body' I thought. But then with Nagisa's body... Lucas and Michiru-sama found it - two people found it - yet no announcement until you, a third person, arrived."

"That's true..." I comment. "So if three people need to discover a body for the announcement to play, and Yosuke didn't see the body until _after_ the announcement... Something doesn't add up here."

 _'Discovery Announcement' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Continuing my investigation, I go an check on the body.

"Hayachii?" Sakuya notices my presence. "What are you doing?"

"Investigating." I respond. "Could I take a closer look at her body?"

Sakuya doesn't speak, but simply nods.

I notice Kyo also investigating the body. He notices my presence and stands.

"Hayato. I see you've also come to look at the body." he comments. "I'm about done, so I'll let you take a closer look."

I kneel down near the body and begin investigating. Looking at her arms, thighs and breast area, it was clear that pieces of flesh had been cut off. Naturally, the killer would have used a knife to do this, however due to the time of death, whoever did it would have had plenty of time to clean the weapon used.

 _'Victim's Arms, Thighs and Breast' have been added to your Truth Bullets._

Moving on, I took a look at her left hand. The index finger appeared to have been cut off.

"Judging by the shape of what's left, whoever did this did it in one clean slash." Kyo commented. "Whatever the weapon was, it must have been really sharp.

 _'Missing Index Finger' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

 _'Weapon' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Looking at her face, the main damage would be her missing eye and missing strands of hair. Judging by the hair, it would appear that they were pulled out during a struggle. As for the eye... that was definitely pulled out by force. The thought of it was almost enough to make me puke.

 _'Pulled out Hair' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

 _'Missing Eye' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Upon closer inspection of her face, I noticed the dry blood coming from her mouth. To be honest, I felt tempted to open her mouth and take a look inside, however part of me felt as if I shouldn't. Upon noticing my hesitation, Kyo instinctively pushed me out of the way and took a look inside of her mouth.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing to her?!" Sakuya cried, noticing Kyo's actions.

"Finding a vital clue." Kyo responded, moving aside. "Take a look."

As he held her mouth open, Sakuya and I took a look inside and saw...

"Wait. Where's her tongue?" I asked, upon noticing its absence.

"Exactly." Kyo responded. "Her tongue is missing, yet the Monokuma file neglects to mention this."

"Couldn't that mean it has no relevance to this case?" Lucas suggested, dropping in on the conversation.

"Perhaps, but what the Monokuma file suggests makes me think differently..." Kyo reminded.

I recalled the words in the Monokuma file.

" _Dried blood is coming out from the victim's mouth_."

"So are you suggesting the tongue was removed to hide the true purpose of the blood being there?" I asked.

Kyo responded with slight hesitation. "It's possible. But we don't have much to support this theory yet."

 _'Victim's Mouth' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

There doesn't seem to be much left to investigate on the body. She's lying in a small puddle of blood, however that is due to her wounds. I think about the next step for the investigation. There's nothing left to check about the body, from what I can tell, so I guess asking for alibi's would be the next logical step.

"Hey, Kyo." I speak up to the Observer. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Are you wanting to know my alibi?" he asks, getting right to the point.

"Oh, uh... Yeah." I nod in response.

"I was wondering around outside for most of yesterday." he replies. "The nighttime announcement. I was the one Monokuma was telling to come back inside. I was on my own for most of the time, but I _did_ run into Lucas at about 8:45ish. We spent some time talking, meaning we both have solid alibis."

Yeah, that adds up with what Lucas said.

 _'Kyo's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

I turn to face Ayumi. "What about you, Ayumi? What were you doing at 9 last night?"

Ayumi thought for a moment. "I was with Serena until she went to the bath. There was a few minutes where I was alone in my room, however."

Yep. That adds up with Serena's Account.

I begin to think about the next step to take when Kyo speaks to me.

"Hayato." he called. "I have a request to ask of you."

"Sure. What is it?" I asked, approaching him.

"I'm sure it's nothing, but there's somewhere I want to investigate, and I was hoping you could accompany me." he requested.

* * *

Kyo lead me out to the bedroom areas. He then stopped outside a familiar room.

"Karen's room?" I asked, noticing where he took me. "Why are we here?"

"Because we'll need to investigate it." Kyo replied. "And he can help us with that."

"Upupupu..." commented a familiar voice. It was Monokuma, who stood behind us. "I can let you in if you think it will help with the investigation. Will it?"

"It will, yes." Kyo replied.

With another laugh, Monokuma opened the door for us, and simply followed us into the room. Without a word, Kyo began to look around the room, even looking inside the drawers and wardrobe.

"Strange..." Kyo commented.

"What's up?" I asked, curious as to the find.

"It's probably nothing, but..." Kyo revealed. "Remember how all of the guys have a toolkit and the girls a sewing kit? There does not appear to be a sewing kit in here."

 _'Sewing Kit' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

"You sure?" I asked, wondering if this meant anything.

"I cannot be certain, but there does not seem to be one in this room." Kyo repeated. "Either way, could you help me look for possible clues?"

I stood confused for a moment. "Why would there be clues in here?"

Kyo chuckled briefly. "You seriously think Karen ended up in the storage room at that time of night on a whim?"

He makes a valid point. For what reason could Karen have gone there? I recall my last conversation with Karen.

 ** _"Now I think I should have the confidence to... Oh. Uh... Sorry, forget I said anything..."_**

Could Karen have gone to confront someone? I voice my concerns to Kyo.

"Interesting..." he mutters, looking under the bed covers. "Bingo."

He removes two envelopes upon mentioning this. He rests the envelopes on the table and we take a look at them.

"Could these be-" I speak up, before getting interrupted.

"The motives. Yes." Kyo quickly finished my sentence. Without another word, he opens one of them.

 **Karen Minakami is crazy in love with her step-sister.**

Hidden with the note in the envelope are a few photos. All are of either Karen and Sakuya, or just Sakuya. Some of the photos showed the two hanging out, while others were Sakuya deep in sleep or hanging out with friends. These photos are almost on a stalker level...

 _'Karen's Secret' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Kyo and I exchange a brief look at each other, however exchange no words. We quickly move on to the next envelope. This won't be her secret, but... could it be a vital clue? I take a look at the card.

 **###### #### sexually assaults his female clients.**

The name has been blanked out by some marker. I shift my gaze to the photos. "What the..."

The photos all consist of some guy having sex with various girls. All of the showcases girls, however, are either screaming, or unconscious. The guy's face has been scribbled out with a marker. Kyo taps me on the shoulder. Looking over, he points to a black marker resting on the bed. The cap is still removed from the pen. Without hesitation, Kyo picks up the marker and attempts to scribble on one of the envelopes. A mark has been left.

"Strange..." Kyo comments. "The cap is missing, yet the pen has not dried out. This must have been recently used."

"You have no way to prove that though." I tell Kyo. "Some pens don't dry out that easy."

Kyo takes a look at the pen and bed. "True, but why would Karen have left the pen in such a state? She didn't seem like the type of person to be so careless, leaving an open marker on her bed."

Kyo then points to the bed. A few marks have been made by the marker. They all seem fresh.

 _'Other Secret' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

 _'Marker' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Kyo turns to face Monokuma. "Did anyone else visit this room for the investigation?"

Monokuma simply laughs. "If somebody did, then they did so with Karen's room key. I didn't let anyone else in."

Kyo's eyes lit up. "The room key..." Without hesitation, he ran out of the room.

I simple face Monokuma. "By the way, Monokuma. I have a question."

"Go for it." the bear eagerly responds.

"You made an announcement when we discovered the bodies." I begin. "What's the requirements for that announcement?"

"Upupupu..." Monokuma chuckles. "Three people must discover the body. The blackened, of course, is not included in the total."

Naoki's assumption was correct. Three people. Then why did the announcement for Karen play after two? Did someone else see the body before we did, and keep it a secret?

 _Your 'Discovery Announcement' Truth Bullet has been updated._

With my investigation of Karen's room over, I decide to chase after Kyo.

* * *

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Sakuya's voice calls out.

I arrive back in the storage room to find an angry Sakuya. Kyo appears to be searching Karen's body. Ayumi is watching in confusion.

"Kyo? What are you doing?" I ask, concerned.

Kyo stands back up and hands me a card. "I couldn't find her room key, but I did find this."

 **### ##### has eaten human flesh.**

Again, the name has been scribbled out.

 _'Card on Victim's Body' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

"What does her room key have to do with this?" Sakuya asks, confused.

"Somebody may have entered her room and altered a few pieces of evidence." Kyo responds, searching the body again. "They probably lost their chance to return the key, so it's still on them..."

"What the hell is this secret?" I ask, butting in. I show the card to Sakuya and Ayumi.

As the two girls start talking about the card, Kyo discovers something new. A sewing kit, tucked away in the back of her skirt. Why was that on her body?

"Possibly to use it to confront someone." Kyo explains. "She most definitely came here with the intention to confront someone. Whether the sewing kit was there with an intent to kill, or as a means of self defence is another question."

 _Your 'Sewing Kit' Truth Bullet has been updated._

"Are you implying she wanted to kill the person who's secret this was?" Sakuya asks in anger.

Kyo shakes his head. "The intent to kill is irrelevant. But that card... no. We'll discuss this at the Trial." Kyo simply walks off as he says this, leaving the room.

Almost immediately, Kiyomi enters the room. She smiles upon noticing the body.

"So the bitch really is dead..." she mutters.

Without hesitation, Sakuya grabs Kiyomi by the collar and pins her against the wall.

"FUCK OFF!" she screams at the voice actress. "WERE YOU THE ONE WHO DID THIS?!"

Kiyomi smirks. "No, but I wish I was. Or at the very least, I wish I could have witnessed-"

Kiyomi's words are but short by a swift punch to the face. And another. And another. Sakuya relentlessly throws punches at Kiyomi's face. The latter simply responds with maniacal laughter. Sakuya stops the punches and simply throws Kiyomi to the ground.

"You're not worth it. Just fuck off." she coldly responds, turning away.

Kiyomi stands up and smirks again. "For the record... I was still tied up when she died. I don't know who it was, but someone _did_ check up on me. Both at nighttime, and at an hour before. My alibi is solid."

Kiyomi simply leaves the room afterwards, spitting some blood at the floor on the way out. Her alibi, huh? Guess I need to find whoever can confirm that, then.

 _'Kiyomi's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Investigations here are done. I should ask around for the other's inputs on this.

* * *

I notice a few people hanging out in the kitchen. Yuki, Kaede, Yu, Mamoru and Akio all were gathered.

"Oh, Hayato!" Yuki calls out to me when they notice my appearance. "We were just talking about the murder weapon."

"And?" I ask, curious.

Yu shakes his head. "The knives could have been the weapon, but there's no doubt the killer washed and returned them."

Akio nods. "Not that anyone could have gotten the knives without anyone noticing."

I'm confused by this comment. "How so?"

"Duh. Because Kou was in here cooking last night." Akio explains. "I saw him enter the kitchen to prepare at about 8:30ish."

"Did you see him leave or anyone else enter?" I ask, curious.

Akio shakes his head. "Nah. I went straight to bed after that."

"I see..." I respond, not sure on what to make of this.

 _'Akio's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

"By the way..." I decide to ask about Kiyomi. "Kiyomi told me that some people checked up on her last night. Was it any of you guys?"

"Yeah." Everyone but Akio respond. The girls seem shocked by the guys response, and vice-versa.

"Kaede and I checked after we left the bath." Yuki shared.

Kaede nods. "We were curious if she was still there. That was right around when the nighttime announcement came on."

Yu sighed. "Mr Kurosawa and I checked up on her at around 9ish... Before then we were actually in the living room."

"So _that's_ what you guys were doing!" Yuki comes to a realisation. She begins to explain to me. "We ran into the two of them on our way to the bath. They were acting suspicious."

"Obviously." Mamoru explains. "You were being so confrontational about it." He sighs. "Women..."

Yuki glares at him. "You trying to pick a fight?"

"Back on topic." I shift the conversation back. "You two were in the living room?"

Yu nods. "Playing some card games, actually. Akio was with us, but he left early. Though we were facing away from the doorway, so we couldn't see anyone enter or exit the storage room or kitchen."

This is good information either way.

 _'Kiyomi's Visitors' have been added to your Truth Bullets._

It doesn't seem like there's anything else to learn here. I decide to move on.

* * *

As I arrive outside the gym, I find Kou and Yosuke in discussion.

"Hey." I greet the two. "Everything okay?"

Yosuke notices my presence. "Oh, Hayato. Yeah, it appears so. All things considered, anyway."

"We were investigating the gym." Kou explained. "Or to be more precise, the area where Kiyomi was detained."

"And?" I ask, curious.

Kou shakes his head. "No signs of tampering. She definitely couldn't have escaped. Not on her own, anyway."

"And even if she could, Naoki can vouch for her still being tied up properly when he untied her earlier." Yosuke adds. "She's innocent."

"I see..." I comment.

 _'Kiyomi's Detainment' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

"By the way..." I speak up. "I've been asking everyone what their alibi's were. Would you mind sharing yours?"

Kou nods. "Oh, I was in the kitchen until nighttime. Pretty much preparing for today's breakfast."

That explains how fast he was in preparing it this morning.

"Yosuke assisted me with it for a bit." Kou added. "Can't say for the time, but it was probably a little before 9 he showed up."

 _'Kou's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

Yosuke nods. "I originally showed up to have one of my protein shakes, but I got roped into helping. I am... not good with a knife."

I notice Yosuke rubbing his hand, which is wrapped in bandages.

"Wait... We have protein shakes here?" I ask, confused. I haven't seen them around anywhere.

Yosuke nods again. "Yeah, they're kept in the storage room. I have one every day at about half eight since discovering them. AM and PM."

I become intrigued by this. "Do you always collect them right from the storage room, or do you have supply anywhere else?"

Yosuke smiles. "Oh? Interested in drinking some huh? Nah, I leave them in the storage room, in case anyone else wants any."

 _'Yosuke's Account' has been added to your Truth Bullets._

I can't say how valuable this information is, but I now have an idea of everyone's alibis. Most of them are pretty solid, so there are no clues there.

 **DING-DONG-DING**

"Upupupupu! I'm bored! Are you bored? Probably. Let's get this trial started, shall we? Everyone is to meet me in front of the fountain outside at once! It's rude to keep your host waiting, after all."

The announcement concludes. That's all the time we have to investigate. With a sigh, I reluctantly head outside with everyone else.

* * *

We all gather outside the fountain, curious as to what's to happen next. Without warning, the ground begins to rumble and the fountain shakes. The water stops flowing and the fountain rises up, revealing an elevator. The doors to the elevator open.

"Upupupupu... Step on in to reach the trial grounds." Monokuma speaks to us through an announcement.

We're all reluctant to do so, however Kyo boldly steps in.

"If we want to learn the truth behind this case, we have no choice." Kyo instructs us. "Let's get this over with."

Sakuya is the first to follow. "Right! I'm gonna find whoever did that my my sister and make that freak pay!"

One by one, people enter the elevator. I am the last to enter. I look back on my notes. The evidence I have gathered is all written down on a single page. These pieces of evidence, which I have labelled my 'Truth Bullets' will be used to expose the secrets people are hiding and to catch the culprit behind Karen's death. Maybe even Nagisa's death, but who knows at this point. Once we are all inside, the elevator doors close and we begin a descent.

I take a look around. Everyone has a serious expression on their face. Everyone is serious about this. Even those who would usually be carefree appear to want to give it their all. The reality of everything has finally set in. Our lives are in constant threat. If we don't expose the murderer here, the'll get to live, and all of our lives are forfeit. If we do expose them, then we all get to live, but their life is forfeit. Either way, not everyone will make it out of this trial alive. I go over my evidence once more during the ride which feels too long. Sakuya taps me on the shoulder.

"Do you think we'll catch them?" she asks, a hint of fear in her voice.

I shake my head. "No. I _know_ we'll catch them. I think I have all the pieces to this puzzle. I just need to find out how they all connect."

Sakuya breathes a sigh of relief. "That's good. I'll do what I can to help, but I think it may be for the best if you get your points across whenever possible." Sakuya notices my confusion and elaborates. "Interrupt people. Confront people. Expose the truth. _In any way possible._ Please. For Karen."

I don't speak a word in response. I simply nod as the elevator finishes it's decent. The doors open and we all exit. We find ourselves in what appears to be a courtroom. Eighteen stands rest in a circle formation. The walls were blue with red curtains hanging at each corner. At the back, was a throne, which Monokuma sat on.

"What a rather odd room..." Kyo comments, looking around. "So you had this room constructed for this specific purpose?"

Monokuma laughs. "Kind of."

Looking around, I notice an additional two stands on both sides of Monokuma. "Two more stands? Why's that?"

Monokuma sighs. "I was originally gonna do a game with twenty people, but things were not meant to be."

Silence.

"Take you places!" Monokuma exclaims, shifting the subject. "We need to get court in session!"

We all gather at our respective stands. I take a look around. Portrait photos of Karen and Nagisa hang in front of what would be their stands. The photos are grey, have a black ribbon on top, and have a red 'X' marked over their faces.

"What's with the photos?" Yosuke asks the bear.

"Just because they're dead it doesn't mean they can't take part." Monokuma explains.

Karen and Nagisa are both dead. Karen was murdered by someone in this room. Maybe Nagisa was too, but that's a mystery for another day. But at least one person here isn't being truthful - and we need to figure out who they are. The curtains have risen on this Mansion Trial, but will we be able to reveal the truth? I have my doubts, but it's finally time for me to put my theorist skills to use. I look around the room. Everyone is awaiting Monokuma's explanation of the trial - the trial that determines which of us will survive, and which of us will meet a terrible fate. This deadly trial... Begins now!

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **A/N:** The clues are there. Who is the blackened? Tune in next time. It was fun re-imagining this case, to be honest. Again, don't expect everything to be the same as the original story. That's all I have to say here actually. Hope you enjoyed :)


	7. Chapter 1 - Dark Secrets - Act 5

**Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall (Deadly Life) - Class Trial**

Monokuma: "Now, let's begin with a simple explanation of the Class Trial!"

"During the Class Trial, you will present your arguments of who you think the killer is, and vote for whodunnit. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you choose the wrong person..."

"I will punish everyone besides the blackened, and they will be granted their freedom!"

Hayato Hare: "So the killer is really one of us?"

Monokuma: "I'm afraid so. It was one of you!"

Kyo: "And if we can figure out who the killer is, everyone else here gets to live?"

Monokuma: "Correct! Also, try to keep things 100% fair, alright? I wanna see you present your evidence for each accusation, or at the bare minimum, your reasoning."

(I see... In that case, all of this evidence I gathered should come in handy. I'll need to think carefully about when to share each point however.)

Sakuya Minakami: "Is there any point to this? We already know who did it."

Naoki Inoue: "Wait... We do? This was easy."

Sakuya Minakami: "Duh. It was that bitch Kiyomi!"

Kiyomi Sora: "Ha! What a shame. I'm completely innocent here."

Sakuya Minakami: "Like hell you are! You had it out for both me _and_ my sister. Now she's dead. And it's because _you_ killed her!"

Lucas Evermore: "To be fair, that doesn't prove it's her. After all..."

"She _was_ being detained in the gym at the time of the murder."

Sakuya Minakami: "Bullshit! And besides... **She's got no alibi!** "

NO! THAT'S WRONG! - _Truth Bullet 'Kiyomi's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "No. That's wrong. Remember what Kiyomi said? She had some visitors at about 9ish. There are people who can place her still in the gym at the time of death."

Sakuya Minakami: "So? She's could just be lying."

(No. Kiyomi couldn't be lying. After all, some people can prove this.)

 _Present Evidence 'Kiyomi's Visitors'._

Hayato Hare: "I asked around, and it seems Yu and Mamoru can confirm that she was still there."

Yu Hayase: "It's true. We went to check up on her. Kiki caught us on our way there."

Yuki Saito: "Yeah, it was when we were heading into the bath. Which was at around 9."

Kiyomi Sora: "See? Eye witnesses that prove I was nowhere near the scene of the crime at the time of the crime."

Sakuya Minakami: "It could have been a decoy or something! She could have still escaped somehow!"

(Could she have escaped? No... There's something that says otherwise.)

 _Present Evidence 'Kiyomi's Detainment'._

Hayato Hare: "Not possible. Kou and Yosuke can confirm that there's no evidence of the area being tampered with, and Naoki noticed nothing strange when he untied her this morning."

Kou Amagi: "Indeed. We figured it could have been a possibility, but it appears she was in fact there all night."

Sakuya Minakami: "Yeah, but... She... Fine. Maybe it wasn't her after all."

"All right, then who did it?!"

Kyo: "If the culprit were to reveal themselves that easily, we wouldn't be here."

Naoki Inoue: "Okay, so she's innocent. What now?"

Lucas Evermore: "How about we use this as an opportunity to discuss everyone else's alibis."

"If someone can't provide a good alibi for the time of death, they're the most suspicious."

Kaede Ichinose: "I guess that makes sense..."

Sakuya Minakami: "Right. So that already puts a small group of people here as innocent."

Kyo: "Oh? Which group are you referring to, by chance?"

Sakuya Minakami: "Hayachii, Yuki, Kaede, Michiru, Serena, Naoki and myself."

Yosuke Flar: "You were all together during that time?"

(Yes, of course. We all have a solid alibi because of **that**.)

 _Present Evidence 'The Bath Incident'._

Hayato Hare: "That's right. The Bath Incident gives us all a solid alibi."

Michiru Hino: "Is that seriously what we're calling it?"

Kiyomi Sora: "And what exactly is this bath incident?"

Hayato Hare: "Serena and Naoki conspired to get a large group of people into the bath at one time. For reasons I don't wish to know..."

"Naoki and I were already in the bath at the time, while Sakuya and the other girls arrived at around 9pm."

Yuki Saito: "We were all together for a lot of the time leading up to that too. Well, except Serena."

Naoki Inoue: "Oh yeah, she was running late."

Kou Amagi: "Late? Did you consider the reason for her being late?"

Serena Anne: "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Kou Amagi: "What if you were late because you were too busy committing a murder?"

Serena Anne: "Gah! Don't just accuse me of that!"

Kaede Ichinose: "Serena... You weren't actually..."

Serena Anne: "Of course not!"

Sakuya Minakami: "Yeah! Serena wouldn't do that! I hope..."

Serena Anne: "Sakuya! Are you really doubting me...?"

Kou Amagi: "Can you prove to us that you didn't do it?"

Serena Anne: "How can I prove something like that?"

Kou Amagi: "So you did do it?"

Serena Anne: "NO!"

Naoki Inoue: "Guys, let's calm down..."

Kou Amagi: "If you seriously want us to believe you didn't do it, then prove it!"

"Because as it stands right now..."

" **You have no alibi!** "

NO! THAT'S WRONG! - _Truth Bullet 'Serena's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "Serena _does_ have an alibi though. Ayumi can prove that."

Ayumi Shino: "Yeah! Serena and I were hanging out together. We lost track of the time while talking, so she was late."

Serena Anne: "Exactly! I'm innocent!"

Kou Amagi: "I suppose that's fair. Who else is guilty?"

Naoki Inoue: "Quit blindly accusing people..."

Yuki Saito: "Ayumi, why didn't you join us for the bath? Did you have other plans?"

Ayumi Shino: "Yeah, I had to talk with someone. It's not important we discuss it here though."

Kyo: "Yes, let's keep personal matters out of the courtroom."

Yu Hayase: "Back to alibis... That leaves..."

" **Yosuke, Kou,** Akio, Kyo and Lucas unaccounted for."

NO! THAT'S WRONG! - _Truth Bullet 'Kou's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "Actually it seems like Kou was in the kitchen preparing for breakfast this morning."

Kou Amagi: "Precisely. Yosuke was with me for some of that time too. We were together at 9pm, meaning we are each other's witness."

Yosuke Flar: "Exactly. I'm sure there are others who can confirm that too. At the very least, Kou was in there for a while."

(Somebody **can** confirm this. They told me themselves.)

 _Present Evidence 'Akio's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "Akio said that he saw Kou enter the kitchen at about half eight last night. He was on his way back to his room when he saw it."

Akio Minai: "Exactly! So I'm innocent!"

Kaede Ichinose: "Nobody was accusing you..."

Kou Amagi: "Actually... How can we prove _he_ isn't the culprit. He was on his own after that, right?"

Kyo: "True. Akio, what did you do after seeing Kou enter the kitchen."

Akio Minai: "Uh... I went straight to bed. It took some time though. I couldn't find my room."

Ayumi Shino: "Is that why you were looking around the hallway in confusion?"

Akio Minai: "Uh... Probably? I don't really remember."

Sakuya Minakami: "Wait, so you saw him? What time was that?"

Ayumi Shino: "Hm... It was around 9. Serena just left for the bath and I was trying to find... uh... the person I wanted to talk to."

Yosuke Flar: "So that settles that then... Who else is without an alibi?"

Kyo: "I suppose logic would say Lucas and myself are the only other people it could be, going by what we've discussed."

Michiru Hino: "So the killer is one of you? I don't buy it."

Kiyomi Sora: "Well it's obviously one of them. **There's nothing to say otherwise.** "

NO! THAT'S WRONG! - _Truth Bullet 'Lucas's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "Not exactly. Lucas said that he ran into Kyo last night. They were both outside, and spent some time talking. They can be each other's witness."

(And of course, **that person's account** can help solidify this claim.)

 _Present Evidence 'Kyo's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "Lucas couldn't tell me the exact time, though Kyo could confirm that is was around quarter to nine."

Kyo: "Exactly. Neither of us could have done it."

Mamoru Kurosawa: "So... everyone has a solid alibi?"

Kiyomi Sora: "Seems like it."

Sakuya Minakami: "Fucking great. So what now?"

Lucas Evermore: "Shall we get back to the main point here?"

"How about we focus on the victim's condition?"

Michiru Hino: "What? Like the fact that she's dead?"

Lucas Evermore: "I was more referring to the injuries on her body..."

Hayato Hare: "Injuries? They were more than just that."

(Yes, the injuries were pretty major. They were...)

 _Present Evidence 'Victim's Arms, Thighs and Breast'._

 _Present Evidence 'Missing Index Finger'._

 _Present Evidence 'Missing Eye'._

Hayato Hare: "There were pieces of flesh missing from her arms, thighs and breast area - that alone proves they were more than just simple injuries."

"Also, one of her fingers and an eye had been removed. Whoever did that knew what they were doing - it was no mere accident."

Akio Minai: "AND HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Hayato Hare: "Wh-what?"

Akio Minai: "You're acting like that's why she died."

"Did you even consider the possibility that those all happened after her death?"

"Somebody couldn't possibly be _that_ cruel..."

Hayato Hare: "No. Those injuries definitely happened before she died."

Akio Minai: "Like I'm saying: I don't buy it."

"I'll start with the main point."

"The killer could just be trying to trick us."

" **Where's the proof those happened before she died?** "

HERE'S THE PROOF! - _Truth Bullet_ _'Monokuma File #1'_

Hayato Hare: "You want proof? Just look at the Monokuma File."

" _Cause of death is either blood loss or shock._ "

"What else could have caused her to die from blood loss or shock, if not those wounds on her?"

Akio Minai: "Ah... Yeah, I guess you're right. Just ignore me."

Yosuke Flar: "So it was one of those injuries that played a part in her death...?"

Michiru Hino: "It would appear so."

Kaede Ichinose: "Okay, so we now know _how_ she died. What now?"

Mamoru Kurosawa: "Something doesn't seem right here..."

Kou Amagi: "How so?"

Mamoru Kurosawa: "How did the culprit mange to do all that without her getting away?"

Kyo: "There's nothing to suggest she was tied up or something."

Ayumi Shino: "But she definitely would have resisted. There's no way she'd sit back and let that happen."

Yuki Saito: "What if she was unconscious?"

Kyo: "All of the pain would have brought her back to her senses."

Kiyomi Sora: "So... She must have resisted. **Was there evidence of a struggle?** "

YES, THAT'S RIGHT! - _Truth Bullet 'Pulled out Hair'._

Hayato Hare: "There _was_ evidence of a struggle. It looked like some of her hair had been pulled out. Most likely because that's how the killer kept her from escaping."

Yuki Saito: "Okay, but wouldn't she still have made a noise? I find it hard to believe none of us would have heard that."

Kyo: "The culprit probably covered her mouth with something."

Sakuya Minakami: "Sorry, but... How could they have done that? There was nothing around that they could have used as a gag."

Yosuke Flar: "To be fair, they could have just took it away from the crime scene."

Yu Hayase: "True. The time that the murder occurred meant that a lot of things could be **disposed of or cleaned**."

YES, THAT'S RIGHT! - _Truth Bullet 'Weapon'._

Hayato Hare: "It's true. The weapon was absent from the scene of the crime. Whoever did it had an entire hour to clean the weapon and act like it was never used. Same can be said for anything used in the murder."

Serena Anne: "Wait. Then doesn't that make this kinda impossible to figure out?"

Naoki Inoue: "Yeah... If there's no evidence, how can we figure anything out?"

Kyo: "There is some crucial evidence there. But it doesn't mean anything as of now."

Kaede Ichinose: "What are you talking about?"

Kyo: "I'll let you know when it's relevant. Let's look at something else for a moment. Something that might have been the reason for the death."

Sakuya Minakami: "The... reason for her death?"

Kyo: "Hayato. We found it in her room, remember?"

(Evidence from Karen's room? Oh right, we **did** find a few things like that.)

 _Present Evidence 'Karen's Secret'._

 _Present Evidence 'Other Secret'._

 _Present Evidence 'Marker'._

Hayato Hare: "You mean the secrets and the marker?"

Yosuke Flar: "Secrets? Marker? What the hell are you guys talking about?"

Hayato Hare: "We took a look around Karen's room in search of evidence. We found both of the secrets Monokuma provided to her - hers, and someone else's."

"A marker was also left behind, having been used to remove any evidence of who that other secret belonged to."

Kiyomi Sora: "So she blacked out the other person's secret? What does that have to do with anything?"

Hayato Hare: "It has everything to do with this case. Why would she bother to go to all that effort?"

Serena Anne: "A maiden's mind is complicated."

Yosuke Flar: "I think what Hayato is trying to say is..."

"Somebody else is responsible for that."

Mamoru Kurosawa: "Do you mean to say that the culprit did that? How?"

Kyo: "It's simple. They stole Karen's room key."

"But it was a more recent event, as indicated by the marker."

"I would wager whoever did it shortly after we learned of her death."

Yosuke Flar: "S-seriously? Why would they do that?"

Kyo: "Because once they learned an investigation would happen, they knew that their secret, which Karen had in her room still, could potentially link them to the murder."

"If it couldn't, there wouldn't be any point in doing so. They could have let someone else take the fall and actually get away with it."

Yosuke Flar: "I see... The problem here is... that could still be anyone."

Yuki Saito: "Unfortunately, that's true... Dammit. We've made no progress in finding the killer's identity!"

Naoki Inoue: "What if that's because... we're looking at this all wrong?"

Michiru Hino: "What are you implying?"

Naoki Inoue: "Someone else could have been responsible. They felt guilty about it afterwards though... and **took their life**."

NO, THAT'S WRONG! - _Truth Bullet 'Nagisa's Death'._

Hayato Hare: "Naoki... Are you implying Nagisa did it? Because that's just not possible."

Naoki Inoue: "You think? But she-"

Lucas Evermore: "Could not have been responsible."

"Remember the Monokuma File? She died last night. She couldn't have tampered with any evidence."

"Also, my investigations have concluded that..."

"Nagisa Sakura was murdered."

Hayato Hare: "Wh-what? She was...? Oh yeah..."

(I suppose there is something that could prove this.)

 **Cause of Death**

Hayato Hare: "I suppose the Monokuma File can account for that. Cause of death was strangulation. That's a weird way of phrasing a death by hanging."

Lucas Evermore: "Exactly. Because somebody strangled her, then framed it as a suicide."

Naoki Inoue: "Okay... Okay... So it wasn't her."

Yosuke Flar: "Her death isn't on trial here, but... How can we prove that?"

Lucas Evermore: "I suppose we can't exactly prove it without much evidence."

Kyo: "Indeed. Maybe if there was something we were missing though..."

Sakuya Minakami: "But what could we be missing?"

"We've looked at everything possible!"

Naoki Inoue: "There might still be something we're overlooking..."

Michiru Hino: "I knew I should have looked at the body. I could have solved this in no time flat."

Sakuya Minakami: "Shut up about these 'What Ifs'!"

"There's nothing else that can help us!"

"Not unless there's **something that was inconsistent.** "

I AGREE WITH THAT! - _Truth Bullet 'Discovery Announcement'._

Hayato Hare: "Sakuya! You're right. There is something inconsistent. Naoki discovered it during the investigation."

Naoki Inoue: "Huh? I did?"

Hayato Hare: "Yeah. The discovery announcement for discovering a... dead body... played for Karen after two people discovered it, that being Naoki and myself."

"But it played for Nagisa when three people saw it - Lucas, Michiru and myself."

"I checked with Monokuma, and it only plays when three people, who are not the culprit, discover the body."

Yuki Saito: "Huh? But wasn't Yosuke there when you discovered it? He ran out to look for you guys, then the announcement played soon after."

Yosuke Flar: "Exactly. I was already in the room before the announcement played. I saw it when I walked in."

Hayato Hare: "But you didn't."

Naoki Inoue: "Yeah. I did a bit of investigating. You couldn't have seen the body from where you stood."

"Not with Hayato and me standing in the way!"

Yosuke Flar: "Gah... What are you implying?"

Hayato Hare: "Because you already saw the body and..."

 **W-I-T-N-E-S-S**

Hayato Hare: "You potentially even witnessed the murder."

Yosuke Flar: "That's... That's fucking ridiculous! Where's the proof?"

Kyo: "Somebody sexually assaults his female clients."

Yosuke Flar: "Huh?"

Kyo: "We found that motive note in Karen's room. The name being blacked out."

Michiru Hino: "Clients? How many other people here would have clients?"

Hayato Hare: "A Personal Trainer, that's who."

Yosuke Flar: "This is fucking dumb! Karen was a Fashion Designer! It could have been her secret!"

Hayato Hare: "No it couldn't. The card still said 'his'. And the photos clearly show a guy, who's face is also blacked out."

Kyo: "Karen's secret was something else, and still fully intact."

(Kyo shows the group the card with Karen's secret on)

Sakuya Minakami: "Karen..."

Yu Hayase: "That's... Uh..."

Serena Anne: "Hot."

Michiru Hino: "Huh?"

Serena Anne: "A forbidden love! That's so hot it makes me wet just thinking about it."

Sakuya Minakami: "That's my sister you're talking about..."

Serena Anne: "You and your sister, to be precise."

Lucas Evermore: "Can we get back on topic here...?"

Kyo: "There's more evidence that can link you to this, no?"

(Kyo looks at me, exactingly.)

(Right. I suppose **that** will prove this.)

 _Present Evidence 'Yosuke's Account'._

Hayato Hare: "Yosuke. You told me you always drink the Protein Shakes from the storage room at 8:30 each day, AM and PM."

Yosuke Flar: "Yeah, so?"

Hayato Hare: "You also said last night was no exception. That's how you got roped into helping Kou with the cooking."

Kou Amagi: "Exactly. He came in with one of his protein shakes while I was busy."

Yosuke Flar: "Crap..."

Hayato Hare: "How could you have gotten one of your Protein Shakes without entering the storage room?"

(Yosuke is clearly nervous.)

Yosuke Flar: "I obviously went there. But Karen wasn't there when I showed up."

Kyo: "Hayato. Remember that other piece of evidence from Karen?"

(Other Evidence? Oh right... That would be...)

 _Present Evidence 'Victim's Mouth'._

Hayato Hare: "There was dried blood around Karen's mouth. Logic would say it was because her tongue had been removed, but..."

"What if it was to hide something else?"

Kyo: "Like someone else's blood?"

(How could someone else's blood play a part here?)

 **Where was the blood on the victim's mouth? - Outside.**

 **Why would the tongue have been removed? - To cover for blood that was already there.**

 **Who would the blood already there have belonged to? - The Attacker.**

I'VE GOT IT!

Hayato Hare: "Right! Karen probably bit her attacker in self defence. She bit so hard that it drew blood."

"Yet the person she bit couldn't clean up the blood around her mouth for whatever reason."

"So they removed her tongue to make it seem like it was her blood."

"So we need to find any kind of bite marks on the suspect."

Lucas Evermore: "I see... That makes perfect sense. Any rebuttal?"

(Yosuke's nervousness has vanished. He's pissed off now. He's also covering his bandaged hand.)

Yosuke Flar: "That's fucking ridiculous!"

"You seriously think it was me?!"

"I'm innocent!"

"You can't prove it was me!"

"Go fuck yourself!"

" **THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE THAT I WAS THERE!** "

Hayato Hare: " _ **SHOW US YOUR HAND!**_ "

Yosuke Flar: "Wha-?"

Hayato Hare: "Show us your hand. You injured it helping with the cooking, right? Then prove to us that the injury really was because of that."

(Yosuke simply watches in terror.)

(Ultimately, he removes the bandages with a sigh.)

(On his hand, is a single bite mark.)

Sakuya Minakami: "You fucker... You seriously killed her?!"

Yosuke Flar: "No! I didn't kill her! But I guess you could say I was an accomplice..."

Kyo: "Oh? Not hiding it now?"

Yosuke Flar: "What's the point. You've already exposed me."

Hayato Hare: "Yosuke. Please tell us what happened."

Yosuke Flar: "I... I was on my way to grab my Protein Shake, as per my routine."

"That's when I ran into Karen, who was already in the storage room."

"She began talking to me while I was getting my shake. And she..."

"Threatened to expose my secret."

Kaede Ichinose: "But she can't do that though. It's against the rules."

Yosuke Flar: "No. It's against the rules to tell another person. There are plenty of ways around it."

"She made that clear. We got into a fight, which escalated. That's when she bit me."

"I knocked her against the wall, and... she fell unconscious."

"I... I thought I had killed her, so I panicked. I **tried** to cut out her tongue like you said, but that's when..."

(Yosuke falls silent.)

Hayato Hare: "That's when the true killer came in."

(Yosuke simply nods.)

Kyo: "I suppose this explains a few things that were inconsistent. Like that one thing we found."

(Kyo looks at me again, waiting for me to speak.)

(I suppose that one thing we found **on the body** was suspicious.)

 _Present Evidence 'Card on Victim's Body'._

Hayato Hare: "Like the card on her body. The one about eating flesh..."

(Kyo shows the group the card as I say this.)

Kyo: "Part of the confusion, probably."

(Yosuke nods.)

Yosuke Flar: "The worst part is... That's who actually killed her. I tried to explain myself, but..."

"Heh. Didn't even need to do that though. They were pretty eager to get the meal started."

"Didn't even stop when they realised she was still alive."

"Couldn't scream because of the missing tongue..."

"I really fucked up..."

(Yosuke slowly bursts into tears.)

Yosuke Flar: "I did what I did after to hide my connection to the case. If I knew a trial would occur with the results being as they were... I wouldn't have stayed quiet while it happened..."

Sakuya Minakami: "Is that any fucking excuse though?!"

"You could have... You could have stopped them!"

(Sakuya also bursts into tears.)

Yosuke Flar: "You didn't see what I did! I didn't know who was the bigger threat! She... Karen... Was prepared to kill."

Yu Hayase: "What?"

Kaede Ichinose: "How?"

Sakuya Minakami: "LIAR!"

(This is getting out of hand. Is there anyway to prove or disprove Yosuke? Wait. Maybe **that** can.)

 _Present Evidence 'Sewing Kit'._

Hayato Hare: "Karen had the sewing kit on her person. She was prepared to attack if needed."

Yosuke Flar: "She was ready to use it in our disagreement. Nearly damn stabbed me in the neck. I hid it back on her body after I knocked her out."

"I tried to hide everything..."

Monokuma: "Upupupu... He's telling the truth. Maybe I'll show you guys the footage. If you can survive this trial at least. Hm... Or not. I'll share it when I feel like it."

Kiyomi Sora: "So. Who did it?"

Naoki Inoue: "Good point. We already learned that everyone has a perfect alibi."

(No. Yosuke's reveal proves that someone's alibi is no longer plausible. There's only one person it could possibly be.)

 **Character Chosen - KOU AMAGI**

Hayato Hare: "Not exactly. Yosuke's witness to his alibi. They witnessed his alibi. Kou. You were the one who killed her, weren't you?"

(Kou remains silent.)

Yu Hayase: "Kou, is this true?"

Sakuya Minakami: "Answer the damn question..."

Kou Amagi: "How exactly does Yosuke's presence at the crime scene make me guilty?"

"Just because he was a witness to the murder, it doesn't make my alibi any less solid."

Yu Hayase: "He's got a point... Isn't there anything that can be used as definitive proof?"

Kyo: "There is. Remember the card on Karen's body, which Yosuke planted?"

Yosuke Flar: "That's the secret I got given..."

Kyo: "He already confirmed that the owner of said secret is who actually killed her."

Yuki Saito: "Oh, I get it. So to prove his innocence, all Kou has to do is share his secret with us!"

Kou Amagi: "Gah..."

Hayato Hare: "Well then, Kou? Show us your secret. Prove that is wasn't you."

(Kou is clearly in a panic.)

Kou Amagi: "Why is that even relevant?!"

"Did you even consider the possibility that Yosuke is lying?!"

"He could have easily used that to frame the secret owner!"

Michiru Hino: "It's true... We already have confirmation that was his plan."

Serena Anne: "But would Yosuke really lie about being innocent at this point?"

Kyo: "There _is_ evidence to suggest that Kou could be the killer."

Sakuya Minakami: "It was obviously him!"

Akio Minai: "I don't wanna be _that_ guy, but we can't prove that."

Ayumi Shino: "I feel like Yosuke may just be covering his own skin..."

(Everyone begins arguing, sharing their opinion on whether the killer is Kou or Yosuke. It's getting tough to hear among the crowd.)

Monokuma: "Uh oh... It looks like we all have a split opinion! Looks like we need to take a drastic turn for this trial!"

(With that, Monokuma pressed a button on his throne. In an instant, our stands began to raise off the ground and begin shifting positions. They flew around, shifting places based on our opinions, until we were separated into two lines, each facing another. Nine stands on each side, with Karen's stand remaining with me, and Nagisa on the other side. It would seem that the stands of the deceased will join a random side to fill the stand quota.)

(Who is with me on Kou being the true killer? Sakuya. Kyo. Serena. Lucas. Kaede. Kiyomi. And of course, Yosuke. I can tell what everyone is wanting to say. It's just a matter of who is to share their thoughts when. I guess we need to battle with our opinions if we wish to uncover the truth. I'll have to lead us here!)

(If I call out someone's name at the right time, then they'll present their argument. I have to get this right!)

Kou Amagi: "This is ridiculous. My alibi is perfectly solid!"

 _SAKUYA!_

Sakuya Minakami: "Yosuke is the only witness to your **alibi**."

Naoki Inoue: "It's not like we can rely on Yosuke's testimony."

 _KIYOMI!_

Kiyomi Sora: "But Yosuke's testimony is the only one Kou can **rely** on!"

Akio Minai: "There's nothing on the victim which points to anyone..."

 _LUCAS!_

Lucas Evermore: "No, the card we found on the **victim** links to a culprit."

Mamoru Kurosawa: "Didn't Yosuke tamper with the card?"

 _KAEDE!_

Kaede Ichinose: "But the **card** found on her body was Kou's secret!"

Michiru Hino: "Yosuke planted it there. It could have been his secret."

 _KYO!_

Kyo: "Yosuke's **secret** was the one in Karen's room."

Ayumi Shino: "That doesn't prove Yosuke is innocent though."

 _SERENA!_

Serena Anne: "That doesn't prove Kou is **innocent** either!"

(I think we've made our point clear.)

"THIS IS OUR ANSWER!"

(As my side make that declaration, the stands begin to shift back to their original positions. Our point has been made, meaning the trial can resume.)

Hayato Hare: "The truth here is that everything we've discovered now can link Kou to this crime."

"Yosuke saw the whole thing. And if that isn't proof enough..."

"Kou's entire alibi relies on Yosuke being there with him."

Yuki Saito: "Oh, I get it. If Yosuke lied about his alibi, then Kou's alibi was also a lie."

Kou Amagi: "You can't be serious..."

Yosuke Flar: "Give it up... We lost..."

(Kou is reluctant to admit defeat, but this changes with a sudden smile on his face.)

Kou Amagi: "All right. I admit it. I lied about my alibi. I _was_ cooking, but..."

"I needed additional ingredients. So I went to the storage room."

"And what did I find? The perfect ingredient."

Sakuya Minakami: "What...?"

Kou Amagi: "I caught Yosuke in the act of messing with the scene, but I wasn't worried. In fact, I was grateful."

"Because he provided me with some _meat_ to include for breakfast."

"When I realised she wasn't actually dead, it just made it all the better."

"Meat is best served fresh off a living creature."

(As Kou says this, he takes out a small bag from his pocket. He removes... an eyeball from inside, and swiftly gulps it down.)

Kou Amagi: "The taste was too good. I had to share it with you all."

Lucas Evermore: "What are you-"

Kou Amagi: "Remember how I cooked breakfast this morning?"

(My face turned white as I realised what he was implying. He... used pieces of Karen's flesh in the meal this morning...)

(I turned to face Sakuya. Her faced had become even more pale when she realised what he meant. She collapsed onto the floor and threw up.)

Michiru Hino: "Gross. What was that for, Sakuya?"

Sakuya Minakami: "I... ate... it..."

Michiru Hino: "Huh?"

Lucas Evermore: "Urgh... The meal Kou prepared this morning had Karen's flesh included, didn't it?"

Kou Amagi: "Hehehe. Bingo."

Lucas Evermore: "Sakuya ate some of the meat..."

Michiru Hino: "Wha- So she..."

Kou Amagi: "She ate part of her beloved sister... and didn't even know! She even complimented the taste!"

Sakuya Minakami: "YOU FUCKING MONSTER!"

Kou Amagi: "Am I a monster? Or is the monster... the one who watched this happen."

"Not that he had a choice."

Yosuke Flar: "He... He said I'd be next if I squealed. So I kept the ruse going..."

Kyo: "I suppose that's the end of this."

Hayato Hare: "Yes. But in case anyone isn't convinced, we should look over all the events from the beginning."

"Here is how it all went down!"

" _This all started when Monokuma gave us the motive of not only our secrets, but one other person's secret. Though the case in question didn't occur because of the deadline, but because of the knowledge provided through this motive. The victim-to-be, Karen, received the secret of someone who had put themselves forward as a leader to our group - Yosuke Flar. This secret was not something you would have usually thought he'd be capable of, and something which Karen believed should not be quality of someone leading us. She knew that she needed to confront him about it, but didn't have the capabilities to do so - mostly due to her shyness. So she asked me for help in overcoming it. Had I known the real reason why, I would have done things a little differently."_

 _"When we were nearly 24 hours until the deadline, things had been set into motion. Karen had already learned that Yosuke routinely visited the storage room to collect Protein Shakes at 8:30, so she headed into the storage room to wait for his arrival. When he arrived right as scheduled, she confronted him about his secret. What happened here exactly is unclear, though we can assume Karen threatened to expose Yosuke to the rest of us, and potentially even planned to attack him, due to the presence of her sewing kit on her body - although this could also have been for self defence."_

 _"An argument and a fight broke out between the two. Again, the exact details are unclear, but what is known is that Karen had bit Yosuke in retaliation and had some of her hair pulled out in the mess, with Yosuke ultimately knocking Karen against a wall, rendering her unconscious. Freaking out as he believed he had killed her, Yosuke hurried to cover up the scene. To potentially fool us into believing someone else did it, he placed the secret card that he received on the body, but only after blacking out the name written on it - which he would also later do to the card and photos of his secret still in Karen's room. In addition, he attempted to remove her tongue in an attempt to hide the true origin of the blood around her mouth. Unfortunately, this was when the true culprit, and the one who Yosuke had attempted to frame, entered the room."_

 _"The culprit had initially arrived in the storage room to collect ingredients for breakfast the following morning, which they were preparing for everyone. Due to this, they already had a knife on hand, or at the very least within reach, when they arrived. They noticed Yosuke attempting to cover up his mess, and decided to step in. Not to help, but... to make things worse. They helped Yosuke remove Karen's tongue, then followed by removing pieces of her flesh from her arms, thighs and breast areas. They also removed one of her fingers and an eye in the process. It's very likely that during all of this, Karen was shocked conscious again due to the pain. However due to the loss of her tongue, she was unable to scream loud enough for anyone to hear - that is if she wasn't already dead by that point due to the blood loss and shock of what had happened."_

 _"With a witness to the crime, the culprit was able to blackmail Yosuke into helping with covering the crime scene. If the name on the card was not already blacked out, then it was most likely done here. Yosuke's hand was bandaged, and they acted as each other's alibis - making them truly seem innocent. When it reached morning, the culprit, finishing their preparation for breakfast, included pieces of Karen's flesh in the meal and fed it to the victim's sister, Sakuya, and attempted to feed it to the rest of us too."_

 _"And the person who was sick enough to do all that to her..."_

 _"Was you, Kou Amagi!"_

Hayato Hare: "Am I wrong?"

Yosuke Flar: "That's pretty much it."

Kou Amagi: "Very perceptive."

Sakuya Minakami: "Why... Why did you do that to my sister?!"

Kou Amagi: "If it makes you feel any better, it could have been anyone."

(Sakuya finally pulls herself up from the ground and walks over to Kou. She then punches him in the face with fulls strength.)

Monokuma: "Order in the court! It's clear who did it at this point, but we must finish properly. Everybody! It's voting time!"

"Select the person who you think is responsible on the panels in front of you!"

"Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice or the dreadfully wrong one?"

Seemingly out of nowhere, a slot machine appeared in front of Monokuma. The words 'Monokuma Vote' appeared above it. The slots began to spin, deciding on who was chosen. After a few seconds passed, they slowed down, and the three slots all landed on Kou Amagi's face.

As if celebrating, flowers and ribbons fell from the ceiling above it, with a bouquet of flowers appearing next to it.

 **CLASS TRIAL END: ALL RISE**

* * *

"Whoa! Who would have guessed?" Monokuma exclaimed. "The one who made a meal out of and the killer of Karen Minakami was... the Gourmet - Kou Amagi!"

We all stood in place, silent. I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing. How could Kou have possibly done that to Karen? As I thought about what could have gone through his mind, I glanced over at Sakuya. While she had an angry expression on her face, tears were also falling from her eyes. I could only imagine the pain she must be feeling right now. Yosuke also stand there, with a pissed off expression. Though it's clear the person he's angry with... is himself.

"I still don't get why you did what you did though..." I comment, speaking to Kou.

Kou chuckles. "What does it matter? I enjoy eating human flesh. What's so weird about it? We don't complain when others eat animal meat."

"Speak for yourself." Akio speaks up, remaining weirdly calm.

"And besides..." Kou continues. "We're trapped here. If one of us dies, then it's only natural that we should eat them - to keep the source of food coming!"

Yosuke steps forward. He's angry, but also with tears in his eyes. "But you knew she wasn't dead! She woke up! You could have stopped!"

Kou smirks. "It doesn't matter. She was as good as dead anyway. Or were you okay with her outing your secret?"

Yosuke remains silent briefly, before sternly looking at Kou. "It doesn't matter now, does it?"

"To be honest, I can't stand to look at this thing any further." Michiru interrupts, looking at Monokuma. "Could we just get the punishment over with."

"Sure thing, Princess!" Monokuma remarked. He turns to face Kou "You ready for your execution?"

"Execution?!" Yosuke shouts, panicked. "You're seriously gonna kill him?"

"Well what else am I suppose to do?" Monokuma asks.

"Isn't that a bit harsh though?" Yuki asks, concerned.

"Hm... Maybe." Monokuma thinks in response. "Let me go ask Karen. Oh wait... She's dead. If you get caught taking one's life, you must pay with your own!" Monokuma then takes out a gavel. "I ask again. You ready?"

"Bring it." Kou calmly responded, walking over to the bear. He turns to face the group again. "I'll see you all in hell."

"Upupupu... Let's give it everything we've got! It's punishment time!" the Monokuma exclaimed, hitting a big red button using his gavel.

 **KOU AMAGI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY**

 **TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT**

 _Kou was sat at a table in a makeshift restaurant. Surrounding him were a bunch of other tables, each with another Monokuma sat. The room he was in was lit by candle light. A Monokuma in a chef's hat approached him, holding a tray of food. The food varied in type - chicken, beef, salad, potatoes and so on. Without giving him a chance to think, Monokuma attempted to force all of this food into Kou's mouth. Realising there was no results from this, Monokuma walked out, with the other Monokuma's following._

 _A few seconds pass before the floor from below Kou disappears, causing him to fall into a large bowl containing boiling hot soup. Struggling to face the burning pain, Kou attempts to swim to the edge. As he does this, the Monokuma's throw various ingredients into the bowl and towards Kou, knocking him further back._ _A fire is lit underneath the bowl, heating it up further. The Monokuma chef begins to add fuel to the fire, as the other Monokuma's continue to add ingredient. Kou's skin turns red from the heat as he screams in pain. Feeling as if he's almost done, Monokuma presses a button, causing a lid to fall onto the bowl, preventing escape._

 _Steam quickly builds up from under the lid and the screams stop. Monokuma turns off the heat, and approaches the front of the bowl, where a tap is placed. The Monokuma's all line up, as the Monokuma chef runs the soup out of the tap and into each bowl._

 _Kou Amagi... was dead._

"Upupupu... That was a good meal." Monokuma laughs, holding a bowl of soup. "Anyone else want some Gourmet Soup?"

We all stood in silence once again.

"Seriously? No one? I thought I was a good chef too..." Monokuma sulked. "You're all dismissed for the day. Go off an do... whatever you usually do. Just don't kill anyone yet, I need to get things cleaned up. Executions are messy work! Oh, you can kill again tomorrow, though!"

We all headed towards the lift back to the Mansion. The whole ride up we all remained silent. I can't blame them. We learned a new side of one classmate today, and we have no idea if any of the others hold dark temptations like that either. If this keeps going on, then it'll only be a matter of time before we all stop trusting each other completely. After all... Three of us are dead. And we don't even know the truth behind Nagisa's death yet - I want to find out, but I doubt Monokuma will give us the chance to.

We all exit the elevator as we reach the top. As we all reenter the Mansion, we all part in many directions. Most opt to return to their rooms, while others head to the dining room. I notice Kyo head up towards the laundry room. I decide to follow.

"Curious too?" he asks, waiting in front of the door. "Take a look."

I look inside the room to find... Nothing. The room has been perfectly cleaned up. There's no evidence that anybody even died.

"I would wager that Karen's body is also gone." Kyo continues. "It's a shame about Nagisa though. I had hoped to learn more about her death. I guess we really aren't holding a trial for her..."

We remain silent. After a short wait, Kyo returns to his room. I simply remain stood there, thinking about what happened today. Is this really our lives now? A constant battle for survival? I sigh. I guess only time will tell.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **A/N:** So the trial concludes. I'll have the epilogue act for Chapter 1 up soon. Chapter 2 is going to be a change of pace on the series, but I'll leave the details a mystery for now.


	8. Chapter 1 - Dark Secrets - Final Act

**Chapter 1: Dark Secrets? Divided We Fall - Epilogue**

I exited the dining room. Following the... recent events... I had come to a realisation that I had yet to eat any meal today, so I ultimately headed to the dining room to grab a bite to eat before returning to my room. Before heading up, I decide to take a quick peek into the storage room. Sure enough, any evidence that there was a dead body there has been removed - almost as if it never really happened. I stare at the room for a short while, reflecting on what had happened.

Kou really did kill Karen. And Yosuke... he did nothing to stop it. Kou was executed as punishment for what he did. Nagisa... committed suicide? Who knows at this point. The best case scenario is that she _did_ commit suicide. After all, that would mean that nobody else here is a murderer. But of course, things can't be that easy. I don't know how much time I spend staring into nothing, but I'm brought back to my senses by a tap on the shoulder. It's Yuki.

"Yo." she greets. "You all good in here?"

"Oh. Uh. Yeah." I struggle to think of what to say. "Just lost in thought."

"I feel ya." she responds, taking a seat on some nearby boxes. "That bear. He honestly wants us to just forget that anything ever happened. It's... unsettling."

We remain in silence for a bit.

"Sakuya locked herself in her room." Yuki speaks up, breaking the silence. "She doesn't want to talk to or see anyone. I'm worried about her..."

Of course Sakuya's reacting like that. Her sister was just murdered by someone we though of as a friend. Or at the very least, an ally. Maybe I should try talking to her? No, it would be best to give her space, at least for tonight. If she wants to talk about it, then she'll initiate the conversation.

"You did a good job in the trial today." Yuki speaks up again, trying once more to break the silence. "If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have reached the truth."

I just did all I could. My skills as a conspiracy theorist definitely helped, but theoretically, anybody could have reached the same conclusion I did. Heck, I'm sure some of the others did too, but just didn't speak up about it. And besides... I couldn't have reached the conclusion I did on my own. Talking it through with everyone is what helped secure the point.

Yuki stands up and sighs, annoyed. "Fine. If you don't wanna talk, you should have just said so. But if you keep acting all down like that, then it just means that Monokuma wins." Upon finishing speaking, Yuki leaves the room. Maybe I should have just responded to her...

With a sigh, I turn to leave the room. Before getting the chance to leave, I find Yu standing by the door.

"Everyone else seems to be pleased with the results of the trial, wouldn't you agree, Hayato?" he speaks up, dropping all of the usual politeness from his voice.

I simply look at him in confusion. What is he implying? Is he implying that not everyone is happy? Why? Wasn't this the best case scenario, all things considered...?

Yu sighs. "I'm just going to come right out and say it. **You got lucky today**."

I got lucky? What does that even mean?

"Simply put... The only reason you could determine the culprit was because of Yosuke's involvement." Yu explains. "If Yosuke has no connection to this case, I doubt you would have reached the same conclusion."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" I ask, slightly agitated by his remarks.

Yu shakes his head. "Just offering some friendly advice. You took the lead role in the trial, yet anyone else could have done that. You want to stand out and survive? Improve your technique."

"Why are you telling me this?" I inquire, confused.

Yu sighs. "I want to survive, just like everyone else. That'd be tough to do if you go around convincing people to believe a 'false truth'."

"I may not always be correct, but I'll admit my mistakes." I share, defending myself.

"Mistakes, huh? Let me ask you something." Yu asks, looking straight at me. "We all received another person's secret. The one you received. Have you spoken to them about it? Or have you just came to your own conclusion?"

I remain silent. I... came to my own conclusion. But I intended... intend to speak to Kyo about it later. Just... all of this happened.

"Your expression says enough." Yu responds. "I'll admit that I was wrong in that last trial. But next time I will do my best to be on the side of truth. I'd like to believe in you and back you up where possible, but if I have any more doubts to your ability... I will not hesitate to throw you under the bus. Figuratively speaking."

Yu is acting strange. No, strange isn't the right word. He's acting... different. I speak this to him.

"Different you say? I suppose that's true." Yu acknowledges this. "I realised something in the trial. The threat of death here is real. I have someone to fight for but... who are you fighting for? Or what are you fighting for, if that's the case."

"I..." Who am I fighting for? I don't really have anyone besides myself, really...

"I've asked this question to everyone else at this point, to be honest. I'm fighting for Kiki... Yuki." Yu explains. "Sakuya is... was... fighting for her sister. Even Kiyomi, in her own bizarre way, was fighting for you. Everyone is fighting for someone or something. Everyone... but you."

I think back. "Do I have anyone to fight for? No, not really. I don't really have anyone. No family back home - or at least, nobody who wants anything to do with me. No friends outside here. I've always been on my own. That's why I spend all my time creating conspiracy theories. To escape my own reality. I'm fighting for myself. What's wrong with that?"

"I see..." Yu responds, somewhat taken aback. "I... wasn't expecting that type of response... To be honest... That appears to be one thing we all have in common."

"Eh?" I ask, surprised.

Yu remains silent, before shaking his head. "No, never mind. Ignore me."

Without muttering another word, Yu simply walks out of the room, leaving me alone in silence again. I also decide to leave, and retire to my room for the night.

* * *

"What do you think?" Yuki asks this question to Kyo, the two of them sitting in the locker room by the baths alone.

"I'm not sure what to think." Kyo explains. "The mastermind could be listening in on us, or even watching. They could be among us, knowingly or not. There are too many factors."

Yuki shakes her head. "That's... not what I'm talking about."

Kyo chuckles. "I know. But should we _really_ speak our minds with what I just said considered?"

Yuki sighs. "We need to tell the others at some point though..."

Kyo sighs too. "I know. But now is not a good time. We need to narrow the group down to who we can trust."

"True..." Yuki comments, feeling down. "I honestly though Yosuke was a trustworthy person, but now..."

"There aren't a lot we _can_ trust." Kyo reminds her. "Yu and Sakuya are probably the only ones of note I can think of who we could trust at the moment."

"Eh?" Yuki asks, surprised. "What about Hayato? Or Kaede? Lucas?"

Kyo shakes his head. "Lucas is hiding something big. Kaede is too timid deep down. And Hayato..." Kyo remains silent for a moment. "Yet to be determined."

"Yet to be determined?" Yuki asks, confused. "What do you-"

"For starters he knows my secret, yet has not spoken to me about it." Kyo explains. "That raises some suspicions. That and a few other points..."

Yuki shakes her head and sighs. "You're always like this, Kyo. You need to open up to people more."

Kyo remains silent. After a brief interval, he speaks up again. "Hello Monokuma."

Monokuma steps out of the shadows.

"Aw drat!" the bear speaks up. "Should have guessed the Ultimate Observer would notice me."

"What do you want?" Kyo asks, getting straight to the point.

"Upupupu... Just curious." Monokuma responds. "And also... I wanted to make a deal."

* * *

Shortly after having returned to my room, and having written a recap of the day in my journal, I hear a faint knock on the door. Concerned, I open the door and find Sakuya standing on the other side, dressed in a white t-shirt and pyjama shorts. Tears swell up in her eyes. She doesn't look at me - she's just facing the ground.

"Sakuya? How are you holding up?" I ask, worried about her.

"Hayachii..." she quietly sobs, thrusting her head into my chest. "It hurts... Why did she..."

She didn't need to say anything else for me to realise what she wanted from me. She wanted a shoulder to cry on. She didn't want to be alone at the moment. We both take a seat on my bed, and Sakuya continues to cry, resting her head on me the entire time. I simply sat there, allowing her the time to let out all of her emotions, which she's been keeping in all day.

I don't know how long we remained like that, but before I knew it, Sakuya had fallen asleep on me. Not wanting to disturb her, I simply let her stay before eventually falling asleep myself.

* * *

 _I found myself sitting in the communal area of my dorm. I sat down at a table with my lunch, however was unable to eat. As I sat in silence, a girl with bright blue hair approached me._

 _"Hey Hayato-chan!" she greeted me with a smile, sitting opposite me. "Bad day?"_

 _"Eh. The usual." I responded._

 _She stared at me, displeased with my response. "So it was a bad day!"_

 _"Don't worry about it. Things got better."_

 _She was intrigued by this comment. "Oh? How so?"_

 _I explained to her what had happened earlier, and how the pink haired girl had came to my defence. Upon hearing this, her face gleamed with excitement._

 _"That's great to hear! You finally made a new friend!"_

 _"Yeah, I guess. She seemed a little weird though."_

 _"Hayato-chan? You even looked around our class? Heck, our school? A lot of people are weird."_

 _I chuckled at that comment. "Yeah, that's true. I mean, just look at your hair."_

 _The girl stared at me defensively. "What about my hair?"_

 _"I mean, it was green only a few days ago. Why change it so suddenly?"_

 _"Why not? No harm in it."_

 _"Yeah, but weren't you feeling too ill to go to school all week?"_

 _"Geez! I'm fine now! Quit complaining before I dye your hair blue."_

 _"You wouldn't." I challenged her, thinking the threat was hollow._

 _"Keep your doors locked at night." she playfully warned me, with a wink. "Anyway, I should get going."_

 _"You have plans? Finally got yourself a date?" I teased._

 _As she stood up, she ran towards me and hugged me from behind. "What, and leave you all alone? No, I'm meeting up with my sister."_

 _"You have a sister?"_

 _"Yeah, didn't I tell you? She's in the other class."_

 _"No, you haven't told me."_

 _The girl let go of me and walked towards the door. "I'll introduce you two sometime. She's super cute. Probably your type! But I can't let you have her. That would leave me all alone."_

 _"Whatever." I laughed it off. "Have a good time."_

 _"Thanks, I will. See ya." she bid farewell and left the room._

 _I sat there in silence following this, and continued to eat my lunch, now in a better mood._

* * *

I awake in the middle of the night with a cold sweat. What do these dreams mean? Making sure I don't wake Sakuya, I rush to my journal and write the details of the dream, as I do with all the others. I'm not sure what all these dreams mean, but one thing is clear - we _did_ attend the Ultimate Academy of Verity, but we for some reason can't remember.

 **End of Chapter**

 **15 Guests Remain**

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the delay. Uni has been keeping me busy these past few weeks. That's chapter 1 done though. I will be releasing the start of chapter 2 soon. Hope you're enjoying it so far. If you've got any feedback, feel free to post a review!


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